For DeBartolo, Hall of Fame enshrinement is ‘dream come true’

August 6, 2016 at 12:05a.m.

CANTON

Eddie DeBartolo’s NFL journey comes full circle tonight when he’s enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame about 40 miles from his hometown.

The crowning moment of DeBartolo’s sports career has a nice ring to it.

Sometime around 9:30 p.m., the owner of the San Francisco 49ers from 1977 to 2000 will become the 301st member of the Hall.

The Cardinal Mooney High School graduate is ready.

“It’s a dream come true,” DeBartolo said Friday during a media session for the six living members of the Class of 2016. Brett Favre, Kevin Greene, Tony Dungy, Marvin Harrison and Orlando Pace are the others.

He’s prepared to deliver the speech of his lifetime.

“I think I’m more nervous now than I was before any of our Super Bowls,” DeBartolo said. “I’m sort of a wreck. I’ve been nervous, just like [my wife, Candy] was having my kids [Lisa, Nicole and Tiffanie] again.”

His sister, Denise DeBartolo York, understands.

“He [gets] nervous talking on stage with all those people who have accomplished so much,” the current co-owner of the 49ers said. “After [his speech], I think he’ll calm down and breathe a sigh of relief and be so thankful that it ultimately finally happened.”

Also being enshrined tonight at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium will be the late Kenny Stabler and Dick Stanfel.

DeBartolo is the only NFL owner to win five Super Bowls. The championship streak took 14 seasons. It began in 1981 and culminated after the 1994 season. Only one other team in the Super Bowl era (the New England Patriots from 2001-14) came close to matching that streak with four championships.

DeBartolo owned the 49ers for 24 seasons, developing a reputation for being a players’ owner in the non-salary-cap era. Money was no object.

“[My players] all felt like they owed ownership something because ownership owed them something – loyalty and everything else we could give them,” DeBartolo, 69, said.

Among the things he pioneered was providing comfort on wide-bodied jets.

“In 1980, ’81, we flew DC-10s. We gave all the players two seats,” DeBartolo said. “Road games, players had their own rooms. We had special food on the plane for the players – that was unheard of back then.”

And then there were the parties and championship celebrations, some in Youngstown and many in exotic locales.

“I know he spent a lot of money on them, but I know he really cared about them,” Denise York said.

In 1998, DeBartolo’s world changed when he pleaded guilty for failing to report an extortion attempt. Over the next two years, his sister and her husband, John York, took over the 49ers in exchange for their share of the DeBartolo Corp.’s business interests.

Out of football, DeBartolo said he wasn’t sure he’d be remembered by Hall voters for what the 49ers achieved.

“I didn’t put a whole lot into [worrying about being a nominee],” DeBartolo said.

In 2012, things changed when DeBartolo was named one of the 15 finalists. On the Saturday before the Super Bowl, a panel of voters debated the merits of each candidate before selecting up to seven nominees if they received 80 percent of the votes.

“When I [made] the 15, to be honest with you, I didn’t have high expectations, I really didn’t,” DeBartolo said.

DeBartolo credits a Hall of Fame policy change two years ago for his enshrinement. The Hall added a contributors category, separating owners and general managers from players and coaches. In 2015, former GMs Bill Polian and Ron Wolf were selected.

This year, DeBartolo is the representative of the contributor category.

“I think once they put the contributor category in, it probably helped,” DeBartolo said.

“Because you can’t [win], whether you are a general manager or whatever, against these men – Orlando [Pace] or Brett Favre or any of these great, great players. It’s just tough.

“The contributor category sort of opens it up some,” DeBartolo said. “If you were good enough to [become a finalist] and your career was good enough, you have a chance.”

DeBartolo’s oldest daughter, Lisa, will introduce him during tonight’s ceremony.

“She’s carrying the torch for him. She’s really happy and really proud,” Denise York said of her goddaughter.

In his speech, DeBartolo said he will discuss encouraging the NFL to do more to protect players’ long-term health.

“I won’t, obviously, be talking about myself,” DeBartolo said, “but I’ll be talking about my life, the people who made my life so meaningful – my family, my parents, my great players.”