CANTON, Ohio (AP) The Latest on the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony Saturday night (all times local):
6:45 p.m.
Tony Gonzalez believes youngsters should play multiple sports.
The most accomplished tight end in NFL history, who was voted into the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, was an outstanding college basketball player. He says lessons he learned on the court helped him on the field.
”I have four kids,” he notes. ”The best thing they can do is play. I was a skateboarder and learned a lot of my balance from it. Surfing, volleyball on the beach. All different sports backgrounds makes you a better athlete. Collectively, they all feed off each other.”
Gonzalez doesn’t wonder how he would have fared in the NBA, and why should he given his stellar career in football? But being so involved in sports built a foundation for his success in the NFL.
”You can’t beat it,” he says. ”The ups and downs have an effect the rest of your life.”
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5:50 p.m.
Ty Law believes he already had a part in NFL lore before being elected this year to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The star cornerback is the first member of New England’s standout defense that won three Super Bowls in the early 2000s to make it into the Canton shrine. His aggressive style, which filtered through the Patriots’ secondary, eventually led to a rules change.
”I looked at it as a compliment,” Law said of the 2004 change that made it a penalty to be overly forceful with receivers before the ball was thrown. ”The Ty Law Rule? I like that. It feels good.”
Law believes the current game – he retired in 2009 with 53 interceptions, more than 800 tackles and seven touchdowns – has gotten soft, in great part because of the rules limiting contact.
”I do feel the game is being brought down,” he said. ”But the attitude has to be, `I know there are no rules they are going to implement that will take away from what we’re gonna do and from our success.”’
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