FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - All-time greats Jerry Rice and
Emmitt Smith led a class of seven into the Pro Football Hall of
Fame on Saturday.
The NFL's career receiving and rushing leaders were joined in
the Hall by John Randle, Russ Grimm, Rickey Jackson, Floyd Little
and Dick LeBeau. Little and LeBeau were elected as senior committee
nominees.
"I am just honored ... to stand up there with greatness," Rice
added before breaking down in tears.
Rice and Smith both made it in their first year of eligibility.
They were elected a day before the Super Bowl, a game they each won
three times.
"This is almost perfect," Smith said. "I don't think even
Steven Spielberg could have written a script this nice."
They will be inducted into the Canton, Ohio, shrine on Aug. 7.
Nobody could stop Rice, the league's top pass catcher and
all-time touchdowns leader, when he played for San Francisco,
Oakland and Seattle. Rice made 1,549 catches for 22,895 yards, had
14 1,000-yard seasons and scored 208 touchdowns.
Nor could they handle Smith, who rushed for 18,355 yards and 164
touchdowns for Dallas and Arizona. Like Rice, he won an MVP award
in the NFL's championship game.
And no one could deny them immediate entry into the Hall. A
nominee needs 80 percent approval from the 44 media members who
vote and they were slam-dunks.
"We were rewarded on this day and the both of us get the chance
to do what we want to do," Smith said.
"It's just like playing in that big game, this is something you
think about, and it is happening. I never thought I would go in
.... with this guy here," Rice added about Smith.
Steve Young, one of two Hall of Fame quarterbacks who threw to
Rice, got the first hug from the new Canton member, then said: "They made yards after the catch a stat because of Jerry Rice."
Two other all-time top receivers, Cris Carter and Tim Brown,
were not elected. Carter, in his third year of eligibility, stands
third in career receptions with 1,101, while Brown, in his first
year on the ballot, made 1,094.
Jackson, a do-everything linebacker with a great burst off the
line, finished his 15- season career for New Orleans and San
Francisco with 128 sacks. A six-time Pro Bowler, Jackson sparked
the first turnaround by the Saints from Aints to contender, in the
late 1980s. He helped the Saints to their first division title and
playoff berth.
Now, a day before the Saints appear in their first Super Bowl
against the Indianapolis Colts, Jackson is Canton-bound.
Jackson, however, was introduced as Randy instead of Rickey - a
bad omen for the Saints?
Randle was that rare defensive tackle who was a premier pass
rusher. An undrafted free agent out of Texas A&I, Randle had 137½
sacks for Minnesota and Seattle, tied for sixth overall, and led
the league with 15½ in 1997. He played in seven Pro Bowls.
Grimm, a member of the Washington Redskins' famed Hogs offensive
line, won three Super Bowls. A guard, he made four Pro Bowls and
was selected to the all-decade team of the 1980s.
The two senior committee inductees did not get enough support
from the regular panel of media members when they were eligible.
LeBeau, the current defensive coordinator of the Pittsburgh
Steelers, is considered one of pro football's great defensive
innovators as a coach. But he was voted in for his outstanding work
for the Lions from 1959-72. LeBeau finished with 62 interceptions,
second among cornerbacks when he retired.
"I would like to congratulate Dick on his election to the Pro
Football Hall of Fame," Steelers president Art Rooney II said.
"Few men in the history of the NFL have contributed more to the
league as a player and coach than Dick LeBeau during his 51 years
in the league."
Little starred for the Denver Broncos in the AFL and NFL,
leading the NFL in rushing in 1971 with 1,133 yards and in
touchdowns rushing in 1973 with 12. He waited 30 years to get
elected.
"My dad used to take me to games to watch Jerry play," Little
joked, cracking up Rice.
"It's been a long journey. This is truly my dream. You can't
explain the emotions of the way you feel at this moment."
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
