This was to be a day of 2 Halls of Fame and so we got up and made our way to Addy's
where the menu promised sustinience
and Ben's pancakes
and my toast
and omelette got us started
so that we could find our way to the world's largest rubber stamp
which was free
and documented
and then past the guitars
towards the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame
where the pyramid
was playing host to Bruce Springsteen
but unfortunately away from the hot dog
and old car
and the hot dog again
and a guitar
and welcome sign,
my pictures were limited to a picture of Ben with guitars
a cutely decorated guitar
and what I could see from the outside
on Rock N Roll Boulevard.
Thankfully, when we got to the pro football hall of fame
the story was different and in addition to capturing the football
we could visit the Hall of Fame Field
where high schoolers and hall of famers play (but not at the same time)
and the scoreboard
and press box have been recently updated
and indeed, they let us take the field
and have a football just like the one the pros use
and so we did our punting, passing, catching and kicking
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before passing by the statue of Jim Thorpe
and noting the first seven men to play the game
along with displays of old balls and helmets
and an old uniform complete with nose guard
as we saw Jim Thorpe sitting on the bench one cold day
and shoulder pads that might have been his
and the infamous nose protector that old time players wore
as we admired Knute Rockne's helmet
and balls from games in the 1910's
circling back to the nose guard
and the helmet
en route to Red Grange
and the details of Ernie Nevers' Duluth Eskimos
the first New York Giants team, 1925
and more details of the Eskimos
and the famous Pottsville Maroons controversy in fact and fiction
as we came upon the Steam Rollers who were 1928 world champions
and read about the championship games in 1932 (indoors)
1933
1934 and 1935
and then saw Bob Waterfield
Sid Luckman
Mel Hein
and had a chance to hear the voice of Jim Thorpe
before getting to the 60's when expansion happened
and then saw balls from key games in the AFL's history -- from the longest game
and from a championship game
before the Green Bay Packers emerged
and we were shown the evolution of the football helmet
along with the story of Tom Matte's famous game complete with wrist band
and Bob Griese's eye glasses (first to wear them while playing quarterback)
and balls that showed the AFL history
followed by the story of history's longest game
and the story of George Blanda's run in 1970.
Next it was O J Simpson's 2000 yard season
and a list of dominant teams after the merger
leading up to the Steelers
with Eric Dickerson's jersey from the year he set the rushing record
and Sterling Sharpe's
before celebrating the Steelers
and mentioning the last straight ahead kicker
noting Jerry Rice's record kick
and Dan Marino's heroics.
Next we focussed on teams starting with Tampa Bay
then the Eagles
Packers
49ers
Bears
Redskins
Panthers
Falcons
Vikings
Giants
Rams
Cardinals
Lions
and Seahawks.
Next, it was the Browns
Steelers
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Bills
Titans
Chiefs
Broncos
Jets
Jaguars
Patriots
Dolphins
Texans
and Raiders
with a break to observe our car in the parking lot
and then on to the Bengals
Colts
Ravens
and Chargers
before we entered the hall itself and captured Red Grange
Jim Thorpe
Art Rooney
Otto Graham
Sid Luckman
Bill Dudley
Walt Kiesling
Bobby Layne
Chuck Bednarik
Paul Brown
Crazylegs Hirsch
Ernie Stautner
Jim Brown
Vince Lombardi
Y A Tittle
Lou Groza
Night Train Lane
Gale Sayers
Lance Alworth
Dick Butkus
Johnny Unitas
George Blanda
Joe Namath
O J Simpson
Paul Hornung
John Henry Johnson
Joe Greene
Mike Ditka
Jack Ham
Mel Blount
Terry Bradshaw
Jack Lambert
Franco Harris
Tom Landry
CHuck Noll
Tony Dorsett
Mike Webster
Mike Singletary
Eric Dickerson
Lawrence Taylor
Dan Rooney
Lynn Swann
Jim Kelly
John Stallworth
John Elway
Dan Marino
John Madden
Darrell Green
Rod Woodson
Dick LeBeau
Jerry Rice
and Emmitt Smith.
Next we saw shoes
footballs from George Blanda
and Dan Marino
and Jack Christiansen
and helmets from Bobby Layne
Lou Creekmur
Darrell Green
Y A Tittle
and Chuck Bednarik
before checking out the exhibit of Western Pennsylvania quarterbacks
and their footballs -- Jim Kelley and Joe Namath.
Next it was shoes of Franco Harris
Branko Nagurski
Mike Webster
Bobby Layne
Lou (the toe) Groza
and Tony Dorsett.
We saw players on the bench
John Elway's locker
and those of Sam Huff
and Terry Bradshaw
along with Mean Joe Greene
and Art Rooney
as we looked at all franchises in history
and the shirts of George Blanda and Jim Otto
before we looked at the various leagues that had passed by AFL1
AFL2
AFL3
AAFC
AFL4
which involved Joe Namath
and Billy Cannon
and the Gogolak kicker
with John Hadl complete with shoes
with memorabilia from the AFL last game.
We saw shirts of Cribbs and Harrison
Ward
Manning and Brees
Ginn and Taylor
Marshall
and Favre.
before Ben posed with the Lombardi trophy
as did I
and after we saluted Csonka and Swann
Art Rooney
and Lynn Swann
Holmes and Brees
and various Super Bowl memorabilia
we took an appropriate last photo of Bill Cowher being soaked with Gatorade after a key victory.
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