{"id":1312736,"date":"2019-07-23T15:24:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-23T21:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/collecting-easy-for-football-hall-challenge-is-displaying\/"},"modified":"2019-07-23T15:24:00","modified_gmt":"2019-07-23T21:24:00","slug":"collecting-easy-for-football-hall-challenge-is-displaying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/collecting-easy-for-football-hall-challenge-is-displaying\/","title":{"rendered":"Collecting easy for football hall, challenge is displaying"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
FILE – In This Oct. 8, 2018, file photo, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) reacts after breaking the NFL record for all-time passing yards during, the first half of an NFL football game against the Washington Redskins in New Orleans. Visitors to the Pro Football Hall of Fame can see both the football Drew Brees threw in becoming the NFL\u2019s all-time passing yards leader and the uniform the Saints quarterback wore while making history. Mark Baker, the hall\u2019s president and chief executive officer, holds the ball at left. (AP Photo\/Gerald Herbert, File)<\/strong>
AP | AP<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Visitors to the Pro Football Hall of Fame can see both the football Drew Brees threw in becoming the NFL\u2019s all-time passing yards leader and the uniform the Saints quarterback wore while making history.<\/p>\n

Hall of Fame officials had been monitoring Brees\u2019 chase of Peyton Manning\u2019s record, hoping the quarterback would set the mark Oct. 8 at home in New Orleans. Brees did just that before halftime \u2014 with a touchdown no less \u2014 allowing the game to be stopped. Brees walked to the sideline and handed the ball to David Baker, the hall\u2019s president and chief executive officer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was perfect,\u201d said Saleem Choudhry, vice president of exhibits and museum services. \u201cHe threw a 62-yard touchdown and eclipsed a record. We stopped the game. He comes over, shakes David\u2019s hand, hands him the ball. It was a very unique moment. I just kick myself sometimes that I was right down there to observe that, but those are some great moments that occur . . . that you can plan for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some NFL records, such as Tennessee running back Derrick Henry matching the longest touchdown run at 99 yards last December, mean a quick email to the team asking for an item to commemorate the moment. Henry and the Titans sent his No. 22 jersey, just one of approximately 50 significant moments in the 2018 season marked by the hall.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe great part of a football uniform, there\u2019s lots of pieces and parts,\u201d Choudhry told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

Displaying all those items is both the task and challenge of the Pro Football Hall of Fame , the museum for a game in which the NFL enters its 100th season this fall with both history and records made regularly. Since opening in 1963 in Canton, Ohio, the hall just keeps growing, with a now 135,000-square foot building still not enough space to display all the jerseys, helmets, balls, gloves, Super Bowl rings and, of course, Hall of Fame busts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a massive exhibit area but have probably close to 97% of the information, documentation and artifacts that we preserve here not on display,\u201d archivist Jon Kendle said.<\/p>\n

The Hall of Fame has more than 40 million pages of documents, including one showing the birth of pro football in 1892 in Pennsylvania with a $500 payment by a team called the Allegheny Athletic Association to play in a game against a big rival. It was found in a closet of the Pittsburgh Steelers. There are more than six million photos in a collection that keeps growing.<\/p>\n

As a museum, the hall\u2019s mission includes preserving the history of pro football and the game\u2019s big moments. And yes, officials know exactly where every piece is, especially those in storage; everything is catalogued and accessible.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe constantly are plucking things in and out from our collection to feature in an exhibit if we\u2019re developing something, or in a traveling exhibit, or as we continually refresh our exhibits in the hall itself,\u201d Choudhry said.<\/p>\n

Preservation comes first. An item such as a leather helmet that may be more than 75 years old might need to be stored in a box away from light and avoid being put on display for the 363 days the hall is open each year; it\u2019s closed for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Or a jersey that\u2019s been on display for a couple of years could need some time to simply rest on a shelf.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re fortunate enough that we have several Johnny Unitas jerseys, so we could just swap it out for another, or we showcase another player that we\u2019d like to bring into the limelight,\u201d Choudhry said.<\/p>\n

Approximately 250,000 visitors tour the hall annually, a group that includes rookies from the Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles this year alone. Small groups can go behind the scenes touring the Ralph Wilson Jr. Pro Football Research and Preservation Center with an archivist.<\/p>\n

An additional 700,000 are expected to attend at least one of the events at this year\u2019s enshrinement ceremonies, which feature a new locker exhibit with items from the inductees , such as two Super Bowl commemorative jackets owned by the late Broncos owner Pat Bowlen. Or Tony Gonzalez\u2019s Kansas City Chiefs jersey worn Jan. 1, 2005, when he broke the NFL record for most catches in a season by a tight end.<\/p>\n

Gonzalez has been to the hall four times, including for the inductions of Warren Moon, Marcus Allen and Michael Strahan. The coolest place? The Hall of Fame gallery with all the busts where no music is piped in and voices stay low as if in a church.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you walk in there and see all the busts with the stories underneath, that\u2019s the goose bumps,\u201d Gonzalez said. \u201cThat\u2019s the \u2018Oh my God, this is where it\u2019s at.\u2019 And to be sitting there when I was younger and I went to Warren\u2019s or Marcus\u2019, I didn\u2019t even let my mind go there because I knew getting wrapped up in the future is not going to help me now. When I think of my family, my mom, I can\u2019t wait for them to see that part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other galleries at the museum include one on the NFL\u2019s first century, the Game For Life holographic theater detailing the values football helps build and featuring stories of Jim Kelly\u2019s fight against cancer, and the Lamar Hunt Super Bowl area highlighted by Super Bowl rings and a Lombardi Trophy, perfect for photos.<\/p>\n

Items also are featured in smaller exhibits around the hall, shared with teams for events, and in exhibits sent around the country. A 6,000 square-foot exhibit showcasing the best of the Hall of Fame has been touring the country since 2012 and will open next in September in Miami, where it will remain through the Super Bowl in February. The hall also has a showcase at the draft and each season\u2019s kickoff celebration, including Sept. 5 before Green Bay opens in Chicago.<\/p>\n

Chris Johnson has had several items sent to the hall during his playing career. The former Tennessee running back will be attending the induction of his star teammate, center Kevin Mawae, on Aug. 3.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s definitely something on my bucket list where I want to go through there and see what I have actually in there, honestly,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n

He may need an assist from someone such as Choudhry, Kendle or curator Jason Aikens.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe story never ends,\u201d Choudhry said.<\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FILE – In This Oct. 8, 2018, file photo, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) reacts after breaking the NFL record for all-time passing yards during, the first half of an NFL football game against the Washington Redskins in New Orleans. Visitors to the Pro Football Hall of Fame can see both the football […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1312736","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-21 05:05:09","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1312736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1312736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1312736\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1312736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1312736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1312736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}