Pro Football Hall of Fame: Five Things You Didn’t Know


The Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. (Image by Coemgenus via Wikimedia Commons)
The Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. (Image by Coemgenus via Wikimedia Commons)

On this date in 1963, the Pro Football Hall of Fame opened in Canton, Ohio.

Here are some things you may not have known about it.

Canton was chosen as the site of the Hall of Fame because the predecessor of the NFL, the American Professional Football Association, was founded there in 1920. The city was also home to the Canton Bulldogs, which was an early successful team in the NFL.

The original building had two rooms and 19,000 square feet of exhibit space. The building itself has been expanded several times over the years and is now more than quadruple the original size.

The Hall of Fame’s first class had 17 enshrinees, including Jim Thorpe, Red Grange, Sammy Baugh and George Halas.

Despite the fact that its name would indicate that it’s the hall of fame for all of professional football, only one of its 303 members never played in the NFL. The exception is Billy Shaw, who played his entire career in the American Football League with the Buffalo Bills. The Canadian Football League has its own hall of fame. Unlike other professional halls of fame, officials have been generally excluded from enshrinement in Canton. Only one, Shorty Ray, the league’s first supervisor of officials, is honored.

The Chicago Bears have the most honorees with 32.

Our question: Name the one player and one coach who are in both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

Today is Independence Day in Brazil, Constitution Day in Fiji and Victory Day in Mozambique.

It’s unofficially National Beer Lover’s Day, National Acorn Squash Day, and National Salami Day.

It’s the birthday of artist Grandma Moses, who was born in 1860; musician Buddy Holly, who was born in 1936; and actress Leslie Jones, who is 49.

This week in 1963, the top song in the U.S. was “My Boyfriend’s Back” by The Angels.

The No. 1 movie was “Promises! Promises!,” while the novel “The Shoes of the Fisherman” by Morris West topped the New York Times Bestsellers list.

Before the break we asked: Which player and which coach are the only ones enshrined in both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Canadian Football Hall of Fame?

The answer is Warren Moon, who played for the Edmonton Eskimos and several NFL teams; and Bud Grant, who coached the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Minnesota Vikings.

Weekly question

Name the three surfaces the tennis U.S. Open has been played on.

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Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pro_Football_Hall_of_Fame

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Pro_Football_Hall_of_Fame_inductees

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_7

http://www.biography.com/people/groups/born-on-september-07

http://www.bobborst.com/popculture/numberonesongs/?chart=us&m=9&d=7&y=1963&o=

http://www.hawes.com/1963/1963-09-01.pdf


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