Rayfield Wright on way to Hall or Fame
http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?I...27&Category=17
Wright way to HOF vs. the Carson way
Sunday, February 5, 2006
SPORTS SPOTLIGHT TODD PORTER
DETROIT - Don’t look at the slight limp in Rayfield Wright’s walk for his life story. You won’t find it on his graying hair, nor the slight wrinkles in his face. It won’t be found in his thick, strong handshake, either.
Look into his eyes.
See the tears? They’re right there forming in the corner of his eyes before he even sets foot on pro football’s largest stage inside the Renaissance Ballroom at the Renaissance Center, ground zero for Super Bowl XL festivities here.
The man who spent 13 years earning hard dollars in the NFL of the late 1960s and ’70s had waited, and waited and waited for this day. Wright retired in 1979.
“It’s been a long time,” Wright said, pausing a moment to take in the scene — his scene — as camera lenses shuttered and flashes lit up his watery eyes. “Thank God.”
Truly a man did appreciate being selected to Pro Football’s Hall of Fame.
It was only appropriate an extra-large Hall of Fame class be announced at Super Bowl XL. Wright joined John Madden, Harry Carson and first-ballot eligibles Troy Aikman, Warren Moon and Reggie White.
Eventually, Carson will launder his crying towel, pick up his phone and answer the Hall’s call. This ingrate believes Hall voters soiled his Cheerios by making him wait — gasp — the last three years when he was among the final six and never elected. Carson retired in 1988, making him eligible for the Hall in 1994.
Carson promised to be on a golf course in Hawaii when the Hall announcement came down. The NFL goes to great pains to make sure the stars of yesterday are given at least another 15 minutes of fame.
His cell-phone voice mail was full Saturday; he couldn’t be reached. A few years ago, Carson asked voters to take his name off the list. Maybe they should have listened.
While Carson pouts about waiting, maybe when he gets his turn at the podium this summer (hopefully he RSVPs) he’ll stump for former Brown Gene Hickerson, who’s still waiting.
And here was Rayfield Wright. The guy never batted an eye when Tom Landry asked him to switch from tight end to offensive tackle as a rookie. The guy never complained about being passed over by the Hall of Fame. The guy ambled to the stage, pausing to smell the roses and smile in the lights, then wiped away the tears he wasn’t sure would ever come.
The guy who was a seventh-round draft pick out of Fort Valley State was at the end of his career walk. These were the final steps he’s waited more than two decades to take.
“I never dreamed I would ever be a professional football player,” said Wright, a six-time Pro Bowler. “I didn’t want to play football. But Gil Brandt (Dallas’ longtime personnel chief) said they saw something different and drafted me in 1967. ... He and Tom Landy decided to use me as an offensive tackle.”
It didn’t exactly happen that way. Most great ideas are born out of need.
Ralph Neely was injured in 1969 and Landry needed a right tackle.
“He called me in the office, and he had a belief in me, and a vision,” Wright said. “He had the ability to see talent in us we didn’t even see in ourselves. I told him, ‘Coach, if you believe I can best help this team by playing a position I never played before, I’ll give it everything I’ve got.”
Landy looked into Wright’s eyes without doubt.
“I believe,” the coach told him.
“My first assignment was against Deacon Jones,” Wright said. “I wanted to change my mind a little bit.”
Perhaps the most star-struck class in Hall of Fame history is the one in which Wright gets to share the stage. Hopefully, during their time together, Wright and Carson will meet and talk. Hopefully it’ll be Wright talking, Carson listening and gaining a sense of appreciation.
Being elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame isn’t a birthright. It’s an honor. It’s bestowed on the greats of the greats, and there are occasions when that takes time.
When Wright played, the NFC All-Pro tackle spots rotated between Dan Dierdorf, Ron Yary and Wright.
“I have always felt that is wasn’t fair that Ron and I were inducted before Rayfield, and that his selection is long overdue,” Dierdorf said. “He is more than deserving.”
The only person who barked about Carson not being in the Hall of Fame was Carson. Certainly, he’s deserving and a worthy player. He was one of the greatest linebackers to have played the game.
Justice, however, was served in Rayfield Wright living to see himself enshrined.
“Justice has been done,” Tony Dorsett said. “Talk to anyone in the Pro Football Hall of Fame from Deacon Jones on down, and they all say he ... is more than deserving.”
Wright way to HOF vs. the Carson way
Sunday, February 5, 2006
SPORTS SPOTLIGHT TODD PORTER
DETROIT - Don’t look at the slight limp in Rayfield Wright’s walk for his life story. You won’t find it on his graying hair, nor the slight wrinkles in his face. It won’t be found in his thick, strong handshake, either.
Look into his eyes.
See the tears? They’re right there forming in the corner of his eyes before he even sets foot on pro football’s largest stage inside the Renaissance Ballroom at the Renaissance Center, ground zero for Super Bowl XL festivities here.
The man who spent 13 years earning hard dollars in the NFL of the late 1960s and ’70s had waited, and waited and waited for this day. Wright retired in 1979.
“It’s been a long time,” Wright said, pausing a moment to take in the scene — his scene — as camera lenses shuttered and flashes lit up his watery eyes. “Thank God.”
Truly a man did appreciate being selected to Pro Football’s Hall of Fame.
It was only appropriate an extra-large Hall of Fame class be announced at Super Bowl XL. Wright joined John Madden, Harry Carson and first-ballot eligibles Troy Aikman, Warren Moon and Reggie White.
Eventually, Carson will launder his crying towel, pick up his phone and answer the Hall’s call. This ingrate believes Hall voters soiled his Cheerios by making him wait — gasp — the last three years when he was among the final six and never elected. Carson retired in 1988, making him eligible for the Hall in 1994.
Carson promised to be on a golf course in Hawaii when the Hall announcement came down. The NFL goes to great pains to make sure the stars of yesterday are given at least another 15 minutes of fame.
His cell-phone voice mail was full Saturday; he couldn’t be reached. A few years ago, Carson asked voters to take his name off the list. Maybe they should have listened.
While Carson pouts about waiting, maybe when he gets his turn at the podium this summer (hopefully he RSVPs) he’ll stump for former Brown Gene Hickerson, who’s still waiting.
And here was Rayfield Wright. The guy never batted an eye when Tom Landry asked him to switch from tight end to offensive tackle as a rookie. The guy never complained about being passed over by the Hall of Fame. The guy ambled to the stage, pausing to smell the roses and smile in the lights, then wiped away the tears he wasn’t sure would ever come.
The guy who was a seventh-round draft pick out of Fort Valley State was at the end of his career walk. These were the final steps he’s waited more than two decades to take.
“I never dreamed I would ever be a professional football player,” said Wright, a six-time Pro Bowler. “I didn’t want to play football. But Gil Brandt (Dallas’ longtime personnel chief) said they saw something different and drafted me in 1967. ... He and Tom Landy decided to use me as an offensive tackle.”
It didn’t exactly happen that way. Most great ideas are born out of need.
Ralph Neely was injured in 1969 and Landry needed a right tackle.
“He called me in the office, and he had a belief in me, and a vision,” Wright said. “He had the ability to see talent in us we didn’t even see in ourselves. I told him, ‘Coach, if you believe I can best help this team by playing a position I never played before, I’ll give it everything I’ve got.”
Landy looked into Wright’s eyes without doubt.
“I believe,” the coach told him.
“My first assignment was against Deacon Jones,” Wright said. “I wanted to change my mind a little bit.”
Perhaps the most star-struck class in Hall of Fame history is the one in which Wright gets to share the stage. Hopefully, during their time together, Wright and Carson will meet and talk. Hopefully it’ll be Wright talking, Carson listening and gaining a sense of appreciation.
Being elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame isn’t a birthright. It’s an honor. It’s bestowed on the greats of the greats, and there are occasions when that takes time.
When Wright played, the NFC All-Pro tackle spots rotated between Dan Dierdorf, Ron Yary and Wright.
“I have always felt that is wasn’t fair that Ron and I were inducted before Rayfield, and that his selection is long overdue,” Dierdorf said. “He is more than deserving.”
The only person who barked about Carson not being in the Hall of Fame was Carson. Certainly, he’s deserving and a worthy player. He was one of the greatest linebackers to have played the game.
Justice, however, was served in Rayfield Wright living to see himself enshrined.
“Justice has been done,” Tony Dorsett said. “Talk to anyone in the Pro Football Hall of Fame from Deacon Jones on down, and they all say he ... is more than deserving.”
posted by The Gryphon at 12:17 PM
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