A Brief History
On September 7, 1963, the Pro Football Hall of Fame opened to the public in Canton, Ohio, the birthplace of American professional football.
Digging Deeper
The first class of inductees into these hallowed walls included: Red Grange, Don Hutson, Dutch Clark, Bronko Nagurski, Mel Hein, Pete Henry, Cal Hubbard, Sammy Baugh, Johnny McNally, Ernie Nevers, and Jim Thorpe, all former players in what was or became the National Football League.
Additionally, a group of founders and executives or owners was also included in this first class, including George Halas, Curly Lambeau, Bert Bell, Joe Carr, Tim Mara, and George Marshall.
Who is your favorite member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame?
Question for students (and subscribers): What players or other involved persons do you believe belong in the Pro Football Hall of Fame that have so far not been inducted? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Cooper, Robert. Pro Football Hall of Fame. Pop!; Illustrated edition, 2019.
Gordon, John. NFL Legends: 100 Years of the NFL. Sona Books, 2021.
The featured image in this article, a photograph by Erik Drost of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
You can also watch video versions of this article on YouTube.
