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PFHOF will not let Sydney Seau talk

PFHOF will not let Sydney Seau talk
24 Jul
2015
Not in Hall of Fame
It was not that long ago that the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced the presenters for this year’s group of inductees.  On the list was Sydney Seau, the daughter of the late Junior Seau, who was chosen for Canton on his first year of eligibility. 

Traditionally, those who are presenters get to do a speech.  The Pro Football Hall of Fame will not have Sydney Seau speak.

In its place, a five minute video, which does include an interview with Junior Seau’s daughter, but does not include mentions of his suicide, depression and post concussion syndrome.

The Football Hall of Fame is clearly playing it safe and are concerned that Sydney would have addressed that issue.  In an interview with the New York Times, Sydney Seau stated that she was never going to mention any of those things.

“It’s frustrating because the induction if for my father and for the other players, but then to not be able to speak it’s painful…I just want to give the speech he would have given.  It wasn’t going to be about this mess.  My speech was solely about him.”

Hall of Fame spokesman, Joe Horrigan claimed the decision was not based on the way Seau died but that there was redundancy where a presenter would reiterate what was stated in the video package.

Can we agree to call bullshit on that one?

Hall of Fame Chairman, David Baker, weighed in stating that the Pro Football Hall of Fame and not the NFL made the decision, and reminded the media that they are two separate entities and stated that “We’re going to celebrate his life, not the death and other issues.”

While it was known that the topic of how Junior Seau passed away would shine a light on concussion issues in the game of football, this cowardly act by the Hall of Fame (and let’s face it, the NFL had their hand in this too) only highlights the issue more and is completely disrespectful to the family of Junior Seau. 

We here at Notinhalloffame.com have always talked about our admiration for the Football Hall, but today we are very disappointed in their actions. 







Committee Chairman

Kirk Buchner, "The Committee Chairman", is the owner and operator of the site.  Kirk can be contacted at [email protected] . Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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