DeBartolo’s big weekend gets off to ‘surreal’ start

August 5, 2016 at 12:05a.m.

DeBartolo’s big weekend

gets off to ‘surreal’ start

By tom williams

CANTON

Eddie DeBartolo may not be the biggest guy to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But the smile he flashed when presented his gold jacket could compete with anyone.

DeBartolo was one of six Class of 2016 inductees to receive their jackets at Thursday’s two-and-a-half hour ceremony at the Canton Memorial Civic Center.

Other inductees receiving jackets were Brett Favre, Kevin Greene, Orlando Pace, Marvin Harrison and Tony Dungy. The families of the late Ken Stabler and Dick Stanfel received commemorative plaques.

DeBartolo told NFL Network he felt “surreal” after receiving his jacket.

“I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone,” said DeBartolo whose San Francisco 49ers won five Super Bowls when he was the owner from 1997-2000. “It’s a humbling honor — it’s just unbelievable.

“It’s beyond comprehension,” said the 1964 graduate of Cardinal Mooney High School.

Greeting the class of 2016 was a record-setting total of 141 returning Hall of Famers including the Niners’ Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott and Steve Young.

Special guest was singer Paul Anka, a friend of DeBartolo’s who tweaked his iconic “My Way” with lyrics honoring the new members going into the Hall of Fame in Saturday’s enshrinement ceremony at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.

The Gold Jacket Ceremony, mostly televised by NFL Network, was part spectacle, part TV show (with l-o-n-g delays during commercial breaks).

The highlight early on was the introduction of the returning Hall of Famers. Representing the Browns were Warren Harding graduate Paul Warfield and Leroy Kelly. Steelers returning to Canton were Jerome Bettis, John Stallworth, Franco Harris, Joe Greene, Mel Blount and Dermontti Dawson.

The returnees lined the paths to the center stage, greeting their newest members. Young stopped DeBartolo long enough to take a selfie.

“There’s guys you watched as a little kid,” Dungy said. “There are teammates, there are guys you competed against — and you want to say thank you to everybody for what they did,

“It’s overwhelming, unbelieveable,” the former coach of the Colts and Buccaneers said.

Favre agreed.

“It was a special moment,” the former Packers quarterback said. The Civic Center floor — mostly familiar to Mahoning Valley sports fans as host for district and regional basketball games — was full of tables of those who paid $150 to attend. Many others filled the seats in the stands.

A brass quintet performed before the show, playing the FOX NFL theme, Sousa and the Olympics anthem.

Asked how his jacket felt, Greene responded, “Smooth — it fits perfect.”

NFL Network host Rich Eisen said Hall of Fame Weekend is “where we all come together to celebrate the past and live in the present of football return.” Looking ahead, Eisen said, is the “unknown of the greatest sport in America — that’s what this weekend is about.”

Tonight, DeBartolo will host a private celebration at the Glenmoor Country Club for hundreds.

Saturday, his daughter Lisa will be his presenter for the biggest speech of his life.

“It’s a culmination of what defines your life,” the Youngstown native said of helping the Hall roster grow to 303.