CANTON — The show went on for Chris Berman, the booming voice of the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement since 1999.
Ozzie Newsome and Lawrence Taylor went in that year. The expansion Browns debuted in the Hall of Fame Game.
In calling the last speaker to the podium at the 2026 enshrinement Saturday, Aug. 8, Berman noted that Drew Brees became a Saint in 2006.
“Something was about to happen in New Orleans that not even Emeril could have cooked up,” the ESPN legend said.
Emeril Lagasse isn’t the TV-chef presence he was when Brees led the Saints to their first Super Bowl in early 2010. The expansion Browns still aren’t much of anything.
Berman still has it, at 71. He’s still full of inside jokes, always making light of how long he’s been around, and things in general.
I covered a Super Bowl for the first time in the winter of 2002, in New Orleans. I found my way to Emeril’s restaurant hoping to dine but was told there was no room at the inn. I saw Berman in a seat laughing with two acquaintances. I should have said, “I’m with them.”
The Saints were a bad team for a long time. The ’99 Browns won two games, one on a Hail Mary that just about killed New Orleans coach Mike Ditka.
Into the abyss went Brees, who came out with 151 Saints wins, which helps explain why Saturday’s enshrinement crowd was more than twice as big as last year’s.
It helped that Ohioan Luke Kuechly was part of the Class of 2026, along with Brees, Larry Fitzgerald, Roger Craig and Adam Vinatieri.
Numerous members of the 2026 Cincinnati St. Xavier High School football team wore their Bomber blue jerseys as they took in Brees’ speech from the field where Kuechly played for Xavier in the 2007 state finals. Some of these 2026 Bombers fought on that field in a state title game last December.
Berman introduced Kuechly as the “King of Queens.” Kuechly’s hometown of Cincinnati and his NFL town of Charlotte both are nicknamed “The Queen City.”
Kuechly is a lifelong Bengals fan. He loves Joe Burrow. He and Brees were in the same division and vexed each other. Brees said Kuechly is the best defender he faced in his 20-year career.
With an enshrinement so full of Cincinnati and New Orleans people, some of the old confusion of “who dey” (a Bengals expression) and “who dat” (a Saints thing) stirred.
Brees took the podium to a roaring ovation saying, “Who Dat Nation is real.”
It was a mostly noisy day, in a good way, for Canton and the Hall of Fame.
Craig, the least celebrated Class of 2026 member simply because he played the longest time ago, didn’t steal the show. He did become the most profound figure.
Craig is 20 years older than Kuechly and five years younger than Berman.
He sat front and center with the rest of the Class of 2026, but he elected not to attempt a live speech since he is dealing with vascular dementia, the second-most common form of dementia other than Alzheimer’s.
I encountered Craig on Friday night at the Gold Jacket Dinner, where he walked mostly on his own power, with occasional assistance, from room to room, where diners cheered the Class of 2026. It was a long walk in loud crowds. None of the five Class of 2026 guys couldn’t keep up with all of hugs and hand shakes thrown at them.
When it was time for Craig’s speech at Saturday’s enshrinement, the huge crowd watched him on a giant screen, via a recently produced video in which he expounded eloquently and poignantly.
In the recording, Craig said his doctors tell him his condition may be the result of concussions from his 12 NFL seasons — he was a vital running back with the dynasty-era 49ers. He conveyed no bitterness, indicating the league and the world had much to learn what repeated violent contact can do to a brain.
The most striking part of Craig’s remarks:
“I am still Roger Craig. I am still a father, a husband, a teammate, a friend and someone who loves this game and the people who brought it to my life.
“If sharing my story helps even one family or one former player, it’s worth it. Football gave me everything, opportunity, discipline, life-long friends, and the platform to grow as a man.
“This honor belongs to my parents, to my wife Vanessa, who was my high school sweetheart. It belongs to my children and grandchildren, and my coaches, teammates and fans who were a part of this journey.
“I’m grateful.”
The leadoff speakers were Fitzgerald, second all-time behind Craig’s teammate Jerry Rice in NFL receiving yards, and Vinatieri, the kicker who leads the all-time NFL scoring list.
Fitzgerald drew smiles as he recalled colorful details from his Minneapolis high school, including his first kiss.
Fitzgerald had just finished thanking quarterback Kurt Warner and two of his head coaches, Ken Whisenhunt and Bruce Arians, when he said:
“I can’t mention every person who nurtured me in my journey. Otherwise I’d be up here all day, like my buddy Ray Lewis was.”
Lewis spent more than 33 minutes giving his acceptance speech in 2018.
Saturday’s speeches averaged about 12 minutes.
Vinatieri seemed to be playing it straight with his speech before throwing a few curveballs.
He thanked Bill Belichick for “demanding excellence every day” on teams Vinatieri helped win Super Bowls in 2001, 2003 and 2004.
“Unfortunately Bill couldn’t make it here today,” Vinatieri said.
It wasn’t a joke about Belichick not being voted into the Class of 2026, but an allusion to his current job as a college coach.
“There’s a lot going at North Carolina right now,” Vinatieri said.
It’s dicey as to whether the 74-year-old Belichick will be piloting the Tar Heels next year when he most likely will be part of the Hall of Fame Class of 2027.
Vinatieri alluded to Belichick being busy in his relationship with 25-year-old Jordon Hudson.
“He’s judging his girlfriend’s cheerleading competition,” Vinatieri said.
Perhaps sensing a line had been crossed, Vinatieri added, “All jokes aside, in my opinion Bill is the greatest coach of all time.”
Brees went deep in his opening remarks.
“Sitting in church on my 17th birthday, Christ came into my heart and changed my life forever,” he said.
Brees and Kuechly said basically the same thing about two different people, Brees on one of his head coaches, Marty Schottenheimer, Kuechly on his dad.
The joint message: They shaped us not with things we wanted to hear, but needed to hear.
Brees reiterated his belief that Schottenheimer, who coached him with the Chargers, belongs in the Hall of Fame.
The love between Brees and the Saints fans who came to Canton in droves was abundantly evident.
The crowd was more than twice the size of last year’s, even though Stark County had been awaken in the middle of the night by booming thunder.
Festivities began under full cloud cover. The sea of folding chairs on the football field, nearest the humongous covered stage, were arranged on a massive temporary floor full of puddles from the overnight storm.
Before the enshrinement speeches, tribute was paid to the four enshrinees who died in the last year — Raymond Berry, Kenny Easley, Sonny Jurgensen and Paul Tagliabue.
In the speeches themselves, no one stole the show. One of the biggest crowds the enshrinement has seen walked away, probably, with 100 versions of what was the best part of a good show.
Reach Steve at steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com
This article originally appeared on The Repository: From Drew Brees to Roger Craig, Hall of Fame Enshrinement packs emotion
Reporting by Steve Doerschuk, Canton Repository / The Repository
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By Steve Doerschuk, Canton Repository | USA TODAY Network
