CANTON, Ohio -- Tailors have been hand-crafting Hall of Fame jackets for nearly half a century.
In an effort to streamline the look, the NFL has asked Haggar to reissue the coats for every Hall of Famer from Otto Graham to Marshall Faulk.
"The new updated look really brings the coats to a different level, so they are truly special and unique," Bryan Wyatt, Haggar's senior director of merchandising, told me Friday. "With Haggar having done them for so long (almost 35 years), fabrics change, trims change. This way, everybody will have one singular look."
Sidenote: The majority of these coats are simply massive. Wyatt recalled handing former Green Bay Packers defensive end Willie Davis a 60XL, slightly smaller than a doorway.
Wyatt has handed out the revised jackets to a long list of legends this year, but said his run-in with former Denver Broncos running back Floyd Little was unforgettable.
"I walked in the room, and he gave me a big hug and said, 'I love the jacket, these are amazing!' And it just made it worth all of the time," said Wyatt.
This year's enshrinees will receive their jackets at a swank ceremony Friday night. Chris Doleman and friends are free to wear them around Canton for the rest of the weekend. I asked Wyatt what happens if/when someone spills a mocha or tips a plate of spare ribs on Haggar's masterwork. I was assured tailors and high-level problem-solvers abound here in Canton to solve such issues.
