The Girdiron Man, Finally in Canton

Scott Heckel, The Canton Repository via AP

Brett Favre waves after receiving his gold jacket at the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinees' dinner on Thursday in Canton, Ohio.

This feels like the final end to a storied career. I know that there's a ceremony to be held on October 16th, but this is the big one. We all knew that we'd get to this moment, although we couldn't have seen the bumps and twists in the road to get here.

The Kid looks pretty good in that gold jacket.

Jim Matthews/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Following the recent controversy over who really owns his legacy, I couldn't agree more with this sentiment:

Brett Favre may have played for the Jets and Vikings, but... https://t.co/Vkdci4dPX8

— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) August 7, 2016

You can check out his full Hall of Fame speech here. A speech, incidentally, that set one more record while honoring a career full of them.

In Which the Hall of Fame Trolls Us All

This Saturday, Brett Favre will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but we've already been given a peek at his locker display in the museum. And it's pretty outrageous.

So I honestly don't know what to make of @Favre4Official's HOF locker having a Vikings jersey. #Legacy #Rivalry pic.twitter.com/vPi8il4AIl

— Nathan Plitzuweit (@GBPlitz) July 29, 2016

Yep, somebody thought that his last two years in Minnesota deserved "equal time".

I know that Brett had some hard feelings about his departure from the team, but this seems incredibly petty.

Subtraction Through Addition: the Pro Football Hall of Fame Ring

After taking a closer look at the Hall of Fame jacket, today we have a graphic featuring the ring. The current design was introduced a couple years ago, the third since the Hall opened in 1963.

Looking at the evolution, I think I like each new design less than the previous one. There's a great 1960s vibe to the square-jawed silhouette. Pro football came into its own then, and that era continues to inform the sport's aesthetic. The Hall of Fame reflects that in its architecture, and it's only right that as a symbol of the institution the ring should as well.

The new shanks are good, and using the inductee's bust is a clever choice. But the top of the new ring is just a mess, "stadium effect" or no.

A Closer Look at That Gold Jacket

This weekend, former Packer GM Ron Wolf was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. This photo shows him being bestowed with the signature gold blazer:

Ron Wolf slips on his gold jacket with the help of his Hall of Fame presenter and son Eliot Wolf during the Gold Jacket Ceremony Thursday night in Canton, Ohio. (AP)

A few things jump out at me from this picture. First, Mr. Wolf the Younger is wearing his Super Bowl XLV ring, which looks to be the same as the player ring. He certainly has the right to wear it, as he was Assistant Director of Pro Personnel during the 2010 season, has since risen through the ranks, and earlier this year was promoted to Director of Player Personnel.

The other is the manufacturer's label inside the coat - Haggar Clothing Co.

Haggar has been around since the 1920s, and is today a leading manufacturer of men's pants and suits.

I never thought about the manufacturer before. Strange, after obsessing over jersey manufacturers for years.

To promote this year's festivities, the Hall released this graphic promoting the blazers as artifacts in their own right:

There's a lot of silly ad-speak in there, but also some fun details. including the Pro Football Hall of Fame logo on the buttons and the lining.

Note how they go to great pains to stress how each jacket is tied to the player; custom fitted, only the player is allowed to be photographed in it, etc. That means posthumous inductions require a different tribute. This year, with Junior Seau inducted just more than three years after his death, we see what that is.

Daughter of Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Junior Seau, Sydney Seau, accepts a framed remembrance in place of her father's gold jacket during the Gold Jacket Ceremony in Canton, Ohio, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2015. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

The "framed remembrance" includes a Hall of Fame blazer patch, commemorative coin and pin, along with a photo of Seau in uniform. Nice enough, but seems somehow pedestrian.

I wonder if this relatively new level of promotion means that we'll be seeing "gold blazer" or something like it used as a synonym for the Hall of Fame or the inducted members themselves. The NFL remains as image-conscious as ever, and won't miss an opportunity to write the language.

Infographic: Ron Wolf's Hall of Fame Career

Today Packers.com posted this infographic review of Ron Wolf's career:

Couple of interesting nuggets in there. I hadn't realized that Wolf is only the third person to be inducted "with strictly GM (title)", and that before this year there was only one. I suppose that makes sense, since so many notable GMs were also coaches. They do seem to be reaching, though; the Hall of Fame's site doesn't use that title. Wolf is officially listed as "Contributor".

I'm also intrigued by the list of inductees by team; the Packers have 23 in Canton, second only to the Chicago Bears with 27. Given the relative composition of the two clubs, it seems likely that the Pack will overtake them this decade.

Giving Thanks for New Merchandise

The Packers' players will apparently be wearing these special caps on the sidelines during the Thanksgiving game at Detroit.

It's available now at the Packers Pro Shop, along with a gold-crowned version for the coaches:

There are actually two Gs in 'Thanksgiving', but whatever.

The Packers have played on Thanksgiving before, of course, including throwback events in 2001 and 2003, but this is the first time they've had special sideline merchandise to celebrate the occassion.

The Class of '63

Fifty years ago today, the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio inducted its inaugural class.

Not surprisingly, the Packers were well-represented. The Packers had already won eight World Championships and were the reigning champs.

Eleven of the 17 charter members who were enshrined into the national pro football Hall of Fame on Sept. 7, 1963 in Canton, Ohio. From row from left: Earl (Dutch) Clark, Earl (Curly) Lambeau, Mel Hein, John (Blood) McNally and Don Hutson. Back row from left: Sammy Baugh, Cal Hubbard, Bronko Nagurski, George Halas, Red Grange and Ernie Nevers. They hold busts of themselves to be displayed in the Hall. (Associated Press)

Of the seventeen members of that Class of 1963, four were Packers. Two of them were such towering figures that their names still hang at the stadium today, Curly Lambeau obviously first among them. The other titan was Curly's longtime collaborator Don Hutson; player, coach, entrepreneur and to this day considered by many to be the best receiver ever to play the game.

The other two were no less deserving of immortality. Johnny "Blood" McNally, the fabled "Vagabond Halfback", spent the bulk of his career with Green Bay but also had stints with the Pittsburgh Steelers and three franchises that even in 1963 must have seemed like ancient history: the Pottsville Maroons, Duluth Eskimos and Milwaukee Badgers. Cal Hubbard was a dominating tackle who forced a trade to the Packers from the New York Giants after a 1928 road game in Green Bay. His off-season job as a minor-league baseball umpire led to an interesting second career. Before his football days were even over, Hubbard had worked his way up to the majors. He went on to be a pioneering figure in baseball, introducing the concept of the modern-day officiating crew, and was enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in 1976. He remains the only person enshrined in the country's two great halls of fame.

Here we see the four former Packers touring the new museum:

Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees, from left, Cal Hubbard, Johnny McNally, Don Hutson and Curly Lambeau stand at the Green Bay Packers display inside the Hall of Fame at Canton, Ohio, on Sept. 7, 1963. The former Wisconsin players were enshrined today in a ceremony. (Associated Press)

Interesting. That sideline jacket is still on display:

Marvelous.

As it was in 1963, so it remains today: you can't write the story of the NFL without the Green Bay Packers.

Dave Robinson, Class of 2013

One of the more exciting events to come out of Super Bowl week was the announcement that Packer linebacker Dave Robinson has been elected to the Hall of Fame in Canton, the 22nd Packer so honored.

Which is a great excuse to post some pictures of Lombardi's classic 1960s uniform, if we really needed one.

Robinson played ten seasons for the Packers (1963-72) before finishing up his career with two seasons in Washington. As a Packer, he was a three-time Pro Bowler, named first-team All-Pro two times and selected as part of the NFL's All-Decade Team of the 1960s.

Robinson's career in green and gold spanned into the 1970s, meaning he was among the first players to wear his name on the jersey. Names were added in 1970 as part of the merger agreement with the AFL.

Last year, Robinson published a book with Herb Adderly entitled Lombardi's Left Side. With Willie Davis, they anchored the left side of the defensive line during the glory days of the 1960s. Most quarterbacks of the era were right-handed, meaning that offenses were weighted towards the right for passing and running, and a defense's left side was with stopping them. Davis, Adderly and Robinson were perhaps the strongest defensive left side in NFL history, and with Robinson's selection, they are all enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

In 2010, Robinson was immortalized in a different way, as one of three Packer players represented in the Broadway play Lombardi, played by Robert Christopher Riley (far left):

Here he the man himself, attending the Broadway opening:

Congratulations, Mr. Robinson. An honor well-deserved.

Deck the Hall, Part II

On their way to winning another NFC North Division Championship yesterday, the Packers participated in the NFL's second week of commemorating fifty years of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

That meant another jersey patch, this time on the white roads.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) and linebacker Clay Matthews (52) talk while warming up before an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears in Chicago, Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Seeing elite players like Matthews and Rodgers wearing the patch is one thing, but I can't help but wonder if other men on that field have mixed feelings about it, knowing that the vast majority of them will need a ticket to enter the Hall?

I'm sure it wasn't intentional, but there can't be many more appropriate events to commemorate the Hall of Fame than a game between these two clubs. As strong as the connection is between the Hall and the Packers, it might even be more so for the Bears. They currently have 27 players enshrined in Canton, more even than the Packers. For now.

Is it just me, or do the Bears save their throwbacks for when the Packers come to town? You can dress like the Monsters of the Midway, boys, but you'll have to work harder to play like them.

Cornerback Casey Hayward (29) of the Green Bay Packers intercepts a Jay Cutler pass during week 15 action between the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field in Chicago, IL on Dec. 16, 2012 (Todd Rosenberg/NFL)

Games at Lambeau Field and Soldier Field, against the Bears and the Lions. Traditional rivals from football towns. Regardless of what the rest of the league did, this was a great way to honor the Hall of Fame.

Deck the Hall

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers waits to be introduced before an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Last night, on Sunday Night Football, the Packers and Lions joined the NFL's league-wide commemoration of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's 50th anniversary.

In the spirit of the occassion, Lambeau Field was festooned with Hall of Fame logos and there were pre-game festivities. In attendance was former great Willie Davis, representing the twenty-one players and coaches (second in number only to the Bears) who are enshrined in Canton.

On the field, both teams wore a Hall of Fame patch over their hearts:

Green Bay Packers' Randall Cobb leaps over Detroit Lions' Don Carey (32) as he runs back a kick during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

This made for some crowded real estate, especially amongst players like Ryan Grant who cut their jerseys down, impinging on the neck stripes:

Green Bay Packers' Ryan Grant runs during the second half of an NFL football game Sagainst the Detroit Lions unday, Dec. 9, 2012, in Green Bay, Wis. The Packers won 27-20. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)

I can't help but wonder why the NFL waited until December to commemorate this anniversary, since induction ceremonies are held in August. The dedication and inaugural class enshrinement was held on September 7, 1963. Perhaps they thought that saving it for late in the season, separating it from the regular season-kickoff hoopla, would allow for greater focus.

I will admit that Lambeau Field in December lends itself to conditions entirely appropriate for remembering the game's glorious history:

Green Bay Packers' Randall Cobb reacts after catching a pass for a first down during the second half of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

"Vote Ray Guy"

This weekend, all NFL players are wearing a patch to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton.

We'll see the Packers' version tonight, but I wanted to pass along this customization by Vikings punter Chris Kluwe:

In case you haven't been following this particular story, here's what Klewe is talking about.

I am loath to admit that I admire a Viking, but Klewe is making it exceptionally hard not to.

Canton's Trail Blazers

The Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2011 was inducted at Canton over the weekend. It was notable not only for Shannon Sharpe's moving tribute to his brother (and reminder of what Sterling could have been had a neck injury not cut his career short), but for another detail that should interest us.

Gary A. Vasquez/NFL

The Hall of Fame has changed the patch worn on the inductees' distinctive golden blazers.

Prior to this season, the blazer featured the words "NFL Alumni", as seen on Dick LeBeau, one of last year's inductees:

Ben Liebenberg/NFL

Is this a sign that the Pro Football Hall of Fame might be moving away from its "NFL Hall of Fame" reputation? Or just a new exercise in branding to promote the Hall's logo? They might have removed the three letters, but the blazer patch still conspicuously borrows its shape from the NFL's shield.

These patch games made me wonder just when did the tradition of the golden jacket start, anyway? The charter enshrinees didn't wear them.

Members of the Class of 1963 — including four Packers (Johnny "Blood" McNally, Cal Hubbard, Don Hutson and Curly Lambeau) — pose with their busts in front of the newly-opened Hall of Fame building in Canton.

A quick perusal of the Hall of Fame's site indicates that the tradition of the golden blazer started in the late 1970s (the color might have given that away). This was a time when Lombardi's Packers started to take their place with the game's immortals. Bart Starr and Forrest Gregg were members of the Class of 1977, and when photographed holding their busts were wearing their own sportcoats.

Ray Nitschke follwed in 1978, clad in the now-familiar golden blazer.

Doesn't look as though they were terribly concerned about appearing too chummy with the league — his blazer patch is the NFL logo!

That design was short-lived, and the second class to wear golden blazers, including Johnny Unitas, had patches which read "NFL ALUMNI".

Previous enshrinees were either issued new jackets or new patches to wear to the ceremony, as seen on this jacket from Ray Nitschke's estate, auctioned off by Heritage earlier this year:

Heritage Auctions

The "ALUMNI" patch was worn through 1988. Here we see safety Willie Wood, class of 1989, with the new "Enshrinee" patch.

A patch change meant issuing new jackets to past enshrinees. It also appears that they lightened the jacket color from its original camel hair to a lighter shade about the same time. This Nitschke jacket was part of the same Heritage auction.

Heritage Auctions

So if previous inductees were issued new blazers to keep up with the Hall's fashion, it's strange to see Bruce Smith, class of 2009, wearing his old jacket to the weekend's festivities.