I spent last weekend with the All Pro Dad staff at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. We did a book signing on Friday night and a Father & Kids Experience in their stadium on Saturday morning. It was a thrill for me because it took place in Canton, the birthplace of the NFL. We did the book signing in the Hall, amongst all the busts and exhibits. It was fun getting to talk with fans from different parts of the country who were visiting. There were a number of Steelers fans, with Canton being so close to Pittsburgh. I was surprised, however, to discover the number of Colts fans who live in Ohio.
I’ve been to the Hall of Fame several times when I coached teams who played in the enshrinement game, but it is always fun to see the exhibits and the history there. Getting a chance to look at the Super Bowl room and seeing the two teams I was part of was very special. Also, I got a chance to see how many men in the Hall had actually impacted my career. There were many players whom I had watched growing up as a kid and also many I had played with or against in the NFL. I counted 11 from our Steelers teams of the 1970’s, and those men obviously had a big impact on me; starting with Art Rooney, Sr., Chuck Noll and Dan Rooney, down through many of the great players off that team. Viewing those busts brought back some great memories. And now I’m starting to see some of the players that I coached enter the Hall. In fact, there are three players who I coached who will be inducted this year-Rod Woodson, Derrick Thomas and Randall McDaniel.
Saturday’s Father & Kids Experience was great, as well. We had over 1,200 dads and kids in Fawcett Stadium. The weather was excellent and, as usual, we had fun and learned a few lessons about being a better dad. It’s always good for me to get feedback from the people who attend these days and Saturday I did get a couple of good ideas. One man told me he was there with his grandson and he wished we had more things about the grandfather-grandson relationship. Another father told me he was really worried about the things his children had access to over the internet. He was hoping we would have some specific ideas on how parents can monitor their child’s activity on the web. We have had messages on both these topics but I’ll pass on to our staff those thoughts and hopefully we can hit them again in the near future.
When we finished up I was off to Pittsburgh to meet my wife Lauren and attend our niece’s graduation. It was a beautiful ceremony and we got to spend some time with Lauren’s family. It was a great way to end a fun weekend trip.
