@alexmarvez: .@ProFootballHOF will let Sydney Seau speak at @Chargers LB Junior Seaus induction ceremony. My @NFLonFOX story: http://t.co/RXZvT2I0n5
When his induction was announced at the Super Bowl, his family rejoiced and started thinking about what to say at the ceremony in Canton, Ohio, on Aug. 8. Seau had told them if he ever made it, he wanted his daughter, Sydney, to introduce him.
But the Hall of Fame does not plan to let Sydney or anyone else speak on his behalf. Instead, it will only show a video that will commemorate his career, while avoiding questions about his suicide in 2012 and the subsequent diagnosis of traumatic brain injury that doctors said they believed was brought on by hits to his head.
“We’re not the N.F.L., but the Pro Football Hall of Fame,” Baker said. “Our mission is to honor the heroes of the game and Junior is a hero of the game. We’re going to celebrate his life, not the death and other issues.”
No one watched, but I assume there will be at least one video made. If she blurted something against the NFL, the story would blow up.Cousin Walter said:Who even really watches Hall of Fame induction speeches? Is the risk to the League of a critical speech by a family member of a player who killed himself really that great?
Very unlike the NFL to not get something right the first time around.E5 Yaz said:There's two weeks to go. This has to be reversed.
Or as a group escorted Sydney to the stage and had her back while she gave the speech her father wanted.YTF said:Would be great if the rest of the 2015 class would come out publicly and agree to graciously accept their inductions and not give acceptance speeches.
Thisdrbretto said:How do they not realize that by not allowing them to speak, they're just pushing this further into the open? If they spoke out without preemptively warning everyone that this is a thing, it would barely get a mention on PTI or around the horn. Now, it's like they're saying excuse me, America, we're going to embarrass ourselves again. Stay tuned!
Take that back right now.Marciano490 said:That's really wretched and upsets me more than the Patriots stuff, even. I wish football wasn't so fun to watch and gamble on and that the Patriots weren't so good at it.
I don't know. If you read that bit, Seau told his family he'd like his daughter to speak, not the hall or the league. Sure if she wasn't currently suing the league they might be more willing to make an exception to the rule, but they didn't invent this or even go out of their way to prevent her from speaking.Marciano490 said:Did the deceased player in 2011 specifically request a family member speak?
That's a lawyer's answer. It defies logic to believe that a quiet word from the NFL wouldn't change that policy in a nanosecond. Anyone with more sense than the average root vegetable can see how this plays against the NFL's dreadful history of (not) dealing with head trauma.Cellar-Door said:I don't know. If you read that bit, Seau told his family he'd like his daughter to speak, not the hall or the league. Sure if she wasn't currently suing the league they might be more willing to make an exception to the rule, but they didn't invent this or even go out of their way to prevent her from speaking.
2011 is also the year the NFL concussion lawsuit was filed, though I'm not sure which came first. I'm also not sure if the NFL knew of the lawsuit before it was officially filed. Reggie White's family spoke for him in 2006.Cellar-Door said:So I know it is fun to rip the NFL, but this is actually the policy the Hall (technically a separate non-profit) has had for a while. 2011 was the last time a deceased player was inducted and they only ran a video. None of the deceased players are introduced except by video anymore, so this isn't something they came up with just to keep Seau's family from speaking. I'm not sure why they should make an exception for Seau? Especially considering that the family is currently suing the league, so there isn't any real incentive for the league to do them a favor.
Cellar-Door said:So I know it is fun to rip the NFL, but this is actually the policy the Hall (technically a separate non-profit) has had for a while. 2011 was the last time a deceased player was inducted and they only ran a video. None of the deceased players are introduced except by video anymore, so this isn't something they came up with just to keep Seau's family from speaking. I'm not sure why they should make an exception for Seau? Especially considering that the family is currently suing the league, so there isn't any real incentive for the league to do them a favor.
Small note. That is a video presentation featuring his son. The Hall has said that they will be using a similar video presentation for Seau, featuring among others Sydney Seau, so no, it is a directly comparable situation.soxfan121 said:
The player inducted in 2011, Les Richter, retired in 1962. And he was presented by his son (video link). So...this dog won't hunt. A family member spoke on Richter's behalf, making the claim "they only ran a video" inaccurate.
This IS something they "came up with" to keep Sydney Seau from speaking.
As noted up thread, the last time a contemporary player passed away before induction was Reggie White, and both his son and wife spoke at the induction ceremony.
Lastly, if the HOF is a "technically separate non-profit" why should it care about the "league" being sued?
This is a whole bunch of stinky, awful bullshit.
No, it is not. Richter retired in 1962 not 2009. The directly comparable situation is Reggie White. Beloved RECENT superstar who passed away within 5 years if retirement and was a first ballot, inner circle all time great. With all due respect to Les Richter, no one born after 1965 knew who he was, whereas Junior Seau is known by all football fans.Cellar-Door said:Small note. That is a video presentation featuring his son. The Hall has said that they will be using a similar video presentation for Seau, featuring among others Sydney Seau, so no, it is a directly comparable situation..
Did it occur to you that those players might not want the crowning moment of their careers to be overshadowed by someone else's protest?YTF said:Would be great if the rest of the 2015 class would come out publicly and agree to graciously accept their inductions and not give acceptance speeches.
When it comes to simple human decency, both the Hall of Fame and the NFL would screw up a two-car funeral if you spotted them the hearse.
However, were I of that conspiratorial mind-set, I might wonder about the relationship of the preposterously prolonged investigation into how well inflated the footballs were in last year’s AFC Championship Game to the ongoing crisis surrounding how central the destruction of the human body is to the game of professional football. In truth, the thing with the footballs should have been settled by Valentine’s Day. Make your case. Drop a minor fine. Get on with your lives. Instead, we have had six months now in which the mere rhetoric expended on the entire affair has tested the limits of the ideal gas law. Meanwhile, over on the human destruction front, things are continuing apace.