The 54th NFL Hall of Fame class was inducted Saturday night, pushing the total of enshrined football greats to 303.
The busts of Brett Favre, Kevin Greene, Eddie Debartolo Jr., Ken Stabler, Dick Stanfel, Orlando Pace, Tony Dungy and Marvin Harrison were unveiled. Here are the highlights from all of the speeches:
Brett Favre
"Go Pack Go!" The chant echoed throughout the bowels of Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.
Throngs of Green Bay Packers fans had waited all night to greet their football legend, Brett Favre.
The ol' gunslinger didn't disappoint.
Favre spent the first 22-plus minutes speaking emotionally about his family. He dove deep on the motivation he received from his father, who passed away in 2003.
He spent the rest reliving his time on the football field.
"Ron Wolf is the single most important person to the Packers' rebirth than any other person out there -- player, coach, GM," Favre said, noting he wouldn't have been in Green Bay without Wolf's bold move to trade for him. "...The single biggest free-agent acquisition in NFL history is Reggie White. Ron Wolf made it cool to come to Green Bay."
He also marveled at his own feats.
"Who ever thought a kid from Kiln, Miss., whose father ran the wishbone, would hold every NFL passing record at one time," he said.
He ended noting that the thing he was proudest of was not the records, it's that he left everything he had on the football field.
"Did we win every game? No. Did I make mistakes? More than I can count. But there was never one time I didn't give it all I had," he said.
Kevin Greene
Kevin Greene spoke with the intensity he brought to the football field.
After compiling the third-most sacks in NFL history, the former Rams, Steelers, Panthers and 49ers linebacker relished that his bust would sit next to Brett Favre's in the Hall of Fame.
"I'm next to Brett Favre for eternity, right where a linebacker needs to be," he quipped.
The son of Col. T.R Greene discussed his life as the son of a military man, the importance that discipline brought to his life and the character it formed within.
Greene spoke charismatically about the players he faced.
A walk-on at Auburn, Greene talked about facing Bo Jackson in practice.
"He ran my ass over," Greene said of Jackson. "I've got a peace about it because he ran a lot of asses over."
And about going up against offensive tackle Jackie Slater with the Rams: "That man would carry a bible in one hand and a switchblade in the other."
Of Greene's 160 career sacks, 97.5 came after age 30. He joyed in remembering the slobber-knocker Steelers defenses he played in during his tenure in Pittsburgh, calling it the "pinnacle of my football life."
Greene's speech echoed the fierceness with which he played that football life.
"If you think about it, that's the best a football player can do, is to exhaust his passion and go out on his own terms, and along the way, have fun, kicking people's asses with your brothers -- that's always fun -- entertain some folks, develop some life-long relationships and enough health to play some football with your son and daughter in the front yard. So that was good."
Edward DeBartolo Jr.
"When Eddie DeBartolo took over the 49ers, they were horrible," Chris Berman began his introduction of the former San Francisco owner.
They weren't bad for long.
During his ownership, the 49ers had the best winning percentage in the NFL in the 1980s and 1990s, won five Super Bowls, had 16 playoff appearances, went to 10 NFC Championship Games and averaged 13 wins per season from 1981-1998 (including playoffs; but not including the strike-shortened 1982 season).
DeBartolo's speech signified his ownership: Family and football.
"For me, one of the biggest honors today is joining my guys Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott, Charles Haley, Freddy Dean, Steve Young and of course the great Bill Walsh. It's no secret what a big part they played in me being here today," he said.
It was obvious why DeBartolo was one of the most well-loved owners in NFL history. He gave credit to all his players, coaches, training staff, grounds keepers, accountants and everyone who worked for his team.
"We did not see players as simply players, we saw them as men," he said. "We saw them as sons, husbands, fathers, brothers with families and responsibilities."
He even got in playful jabs at his former players, like telling the world teammates once called Jerry Rice "Fifi" and the greatest receiver in NFL history would change jerseys during the game if he was wet.
DeBartolo said he wished the NFL today would have more of that family feel.
"I think we could use more of that sense of family in the NFL today," he said. "...When the uniform comes off too."
Ken Stabler
"The Snake" led Oakland to a winning record in each of his nine seasons as a starter, including five straight division titles.
Sadly, Stabler died last year, having waited 27 years without getting the Hall of Fame call.
In his memory, a video tribute displayed Stabler's lasting football impression. He led the NFL in TD passes in 1974 and 1976 and won Super Bowl XI with the Raiders
John Madden, after Stabler's death, said: "I've always said, if I had one quarterback to make a drive the length of the field, at the end of the game, to win that game, that guy would be Ken Stabler, No. 12."
Dick Stanfel
The former Detroit Lions and Washington Redskins guard was one of the greatest blockers of his era. He made first-team All-Pro five times in seven seasons.
Stanfel was one of the best offensive linemen to ever play in the NFL.
He died in June 2015. He was posthumously inducted after waiting 54 years.
Stanfel was also known as one of the best offensive line coaches in football.
Marv Levy, who introduced Stanfel on Saturday, hired the blocker as a college assistant in 1963.
"Once I hired him as the coach at the University of California, sometimes he would demonstrate to our players without a helmet, without shoulder pads, how to trap an outside linebacker. And he not only blew them away, he blew me away watching. It was fantastic," Levy said in a video tribute.
Stanfel went on to coach as an assistant in the NFL for more than 30 years.
"I think he was the guard of the century," Levy said. "He was a credit to the game. His bust belongs here in Canton."
Orlando Pace
Orlando Pace became just the 15th No. 1 overall selection to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
The theme of Pace's speech was simple. He had one goal: Make the Hall of Fame.
"When you set your goal to be the very best, there is no other path," he said.
Pace, a Sandusky, Ohio, native, said he never spoke of his goal, but "unleashed the fire" on the field.
Boy did he ever.
As one of the greatest left tackles ever, Pace was the anchor for the Greatest Show on Turf. He blocked for three straight NFL MVPs (QB Kurt Warner -- 1999, 2001; RB Marshall Faulk -- 2000) and seven 1,000-yard rushers. The Rams' offense also threw for more than 3,000 yards in each of his 12 seasons with the team.
Pace thanked his high school, college and Rams coaches for challenging him "to be great every day."
He also thanked St. Louis fans, saying: "We brought a championship to that city. Nobody can take that away."
Tony Dungy
Tony Dungy spoke as he coached: A family-first man who won.
He began with a theme of disappointment, which he always overcame.
Dungy wasn't drafted as a quarterback out of college, despite there being 12 rounds in the draft at the time. But he made the Pittsburgh Steelers as a cornerback. After two seasons, he was traded to San Francisco. His pro career ended a year later.
His career as a coach was just beginning.
Dungy credited all the coaches he worked under as an assistant, but gave special praise for the leadership the late Dennis Green taught him.
"(He) taught me about things on and off the field," Dungy said, noting that Green always made sure his staff spent time with their families.
Dungy took over a Buccaneers team in 1996 that had suffered 12 double-digit loss seasons in the previous 13 years. He finished at or above .500 in five of six seasons with Buccaneers.
After being fired, he then led the Indianapolis Colts to 12-plus wins in six of his seven seasons, including a Super Bowl championship.
"The reason I'm here, is the people I'm able to work with," Dungy said, acknowledging his former players in attendance.
As the first African American head coach ever to win a Super Bowl, Dungy ended by acknowledging all the minority coaches who came before.
"And finally I'd like to say thank you to 10 men (who were assistants when he entered the NFL in 1977)," he said. "It was a small group of men, just 10 of them if you can believe that. Ten African American assistant coaches in the entire NFL. Many of them never got the chance to move up the coaching ladder like I did. But they were so important to the progress of this league.
"Those men were like my dad. They didn't complain about the lack of opportunities. They found ways to make the situation better. They're role models and mentors to me and my generation to young African American players like Ray Rhodes, Terry Robiskie and Herm Edwards, (who) in the '80s were trying to decide whether we could make coaching a career or not. Without those 10 coaches laying the ground work, the league would not have the 200-plus minority assistant coaches it does today. And we would not have had Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy coaching against each other in Super Bowl 41.
"So tonight, as I join Fritz Pollard as the second African American coach in the Hall of Fame, I feel like I'm representing those 10 men and all the African American coaches who came before me and paved the way. I thank them very, very much."
Marvin Harrison
The soft-spoken Marvin Harrison marveled at the highlight reel shown during his introduction.
The former Indianapolis Colts receiver ranks third in the NFL history in receptions (1,102), seventh in receiving yards (14,580), and fifth in receiving touchdowns (128). He earned 1,000-plus yards and 10-plus touchdowns in eight straight seasons from 1999-2006 and set an NFL record with 143 receptions in 2002.
"I've broken a lot of records, I've held a lot of records, but records were made to be broken," he said, quipping that he wouldn't have the shortest speech in Hall of Fame history.
Many of those catches were of the spectacular variety.
"They may look tough to me, but they were routine," he said.
Harrison credited former Colts offensive coordinator Tom Moore with helping him set the all-time receiving record.
"Any time you come off a record-breaking season, you have 143 catches and the first day of training camp your coach comes over to you, he's upset, he's sad," Harrison said. "... He said 'I'm a little upset with you.' (I said) 'Why would you be upset, I just had 143 catches?' 'Because you should have had 150. I'm a little upset at that.' ... Tom played an extremely big role in me being here today. He would always tell me, 'I'm going to throw you the ball whether it's double coverage. I don't care who is guarding you so you better get over it because I'm going to keep throwing you the ball.'"
And Harrison caught most of those balls.
Chris Mortensen
Chris Mortensen is battling throat cancer, but that wouldn't keep him away from the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The long-time ESPN NFL Insider was on hand Saturday night to accept the Dick McCann Award, given by the Professional Football Writers of America for long and distinguished reporting on pro football.
NFL Media's Steve Wyche noted that during the HOF induction ceremony, Hall of Famers Anthony Munoz, Bill Polian, Marcus Allen, Jim Kelly and others lined up backstage to speak and take pictures with Mortensen.
Everyone in the football world is praying for you, Mort.
