TBO.com - Live in the moment

Pro Football Hall Inducts 6

Published: Aug 5, 2007

CANTON, OHIO - The Pro Football Hall of Fame induction became a family affair Saturday night.

Michael Irvin lauded the Dallas Cowboys family for inspiring him to make it to Canton. Thurman Thomas punctuated his acceptance speech by asking his wife to marry him again. Charlie Sanders finally got to say "Hi, Mom." Bruce Matthews campaigned to have brother Clay, a former linebacker, join him in Canton. Roger Wehrli praised the timing of his election because it allowed his grandchildren to share something special with him.

And Gene Hickerson's son, Bob, accepted on behalf of his father, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease. Then Gene was brought onto the stage in a wheelchair guided by former teammates Jim Brown, Leroy Kelly and Bobby Mitchell - all running backs he helped into the hall.

Irvin kissed his hall bust before he capped the riveting ceremony with a preacher's intensity. His eyes wet, his words coming slowly and emphatically, he commended Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and fellow "Triplets" Emmitt Smith and Troy Aikman for motivating him. He saluted Cowboys fans everywhere, but saved his most moving tributes for the relatives who stuck with him through three Super Bowl wins and difficulties away from the field.

Irvin pleaded no contest to felony cocaine possession and was put on probation for four years after a March 1996 arrest. Police crashed Irvin's 30th birthday party and found him, marijuana, cocaine and strippers in a hotel room. He subsequently had other incidents with police.

On Saturday, Irvin asked sons Michael, 10, and Elijah, 8, to stand before saying the prayers he utters about them:

"Help me raise them for their kids, so that they can be a better father than I," Irvin said he prays. "I tell you guys to always do the right thing so you can be a better role model than Dad. Look up, get up, but don't ever give up."

Thomas, a second-round pick in 1988, set a record by leading the NFL in total yards from scrimmage four consecutive seasons.

"To the fans of Buffalo," he said, "every guy that probably has stood here … and said they had the best fans supporting you, I am here to say that's hogwash. No fans are like my fans, Bills fans."

Citing what he called a "simple but memorable life," Sanders entered the hall by thanking a mother he never knew; she died when he was 2. Noting how players often mug for the camera and salute their mothers, a teary-eyed Sanders said: "I thought it was something that was always special and I would want to do, but couldn't. So I take this time, right here and right now, in Canton, Ohio, at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, to say, 'Hi, Mom.'"

As a 248-pound guard, Hickerson made five straight All-Pro teams (1966-70). In 1964, he helped Cleveland to the NFL championship.

Speaking for his father, who was too ill to talk or sit on stage, Bob Hickerson remembered his dad as "still leading the way" for Brown, Kelly and Mitchell. Then those three great runners turned things around by leading Hickerson onstage.

Matthews played in more games than any other positional player in NFL history, starting 292 of 296, and 15 playoff games. The most starts came at guard (99 on the left side, 67 on the right) and at center (87). He had 22 starts at right tackle, 17 at left.

"If someone had told me when I was a kid that I would play in the NFL and make it to the Hall of Fame, I would not have believed it," he said. "Having your name mentioned with the all-time greats in the game is very humbling."

Wehrli was a shutdown cornerback from 1969-82 who excelled as a punt returner. He recovered a franchise record-tying 19 fumbles and made the NFL's All-1970s team, plus five All-Pro teams.

"The Hall of Fame is never a given," he said. "I never for once took it for granted that I would be or should be here."

COLTS: Indianapolis released former Pro Bowl defensive tackle Corey Simon, who failed his physical last week.

PANTHERS: Jon Beason and his agent scheduled a face-to-face meeting with the team for today, perhaps signaling a breakthrough in the first-round pick's holdout.

TITANS: Rookie defensive tackle Antonio Johnson will have season-ending surgery on his left knee.