NFL Hall of Fame, Canton, Cuyahoga Nat'l Park, June 22, 2016

Wednesday, June 22

A delightful 62 degrees this morning at 7:15.  We head to the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton, about an hour drive, with a quick stop at a McD’s for coffee and a breakfast sandwich.  We arrive just a few minutes before the 9:00 opening time.

There is a camp for youngsters going on at an adjacent field and we learn that this is a popular thing during the Summer.  We buy tickets here which include the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame - the discount for buying both is taken up by a $10 parking fee added to your ticket price! 

The Canton Bulldogs, with Jim Thorpe, were one of the first teams  in the NFL, which was born in 1892. The American Football League began in Canton in 1920. In the first decade teams came and went – 35 folded! The idea for a Hall of Fame was proposed in the Canton Repository newspaper in 1959 and it became reality in 1963. 

The museum has a time line and many photos and memorabilia from the early years.  It wasn’t until 1933 that the forward pass was legalized.  And in the early years the scoring was quite different.

 The draft was begun in 1936 and the first televised game was in 1939.  In 1943 helmets became mandatory.

During WWII nearly 1,000 players joined the armed forces.  Teams were temporarily merged (the Eagles and Steelers were the Steagles) in order to have a season.  The game continued to evolve, the AFL and NFL merge… Monday Night Football is credited with a huge increase in popularity, free agency began in 1993, and instant replay came into play 1999.  They had a nice display on instant replay where you got to review several plays from different tv angles and see whether you made the correct call. Several other interactive displays, like this one, and many videos.

The Hall with each year’s inductees' bronze busts is impressive.  The first player elected was Sammy Baugh,  Redskin quarterback from 1937-1952.  

There is also a display of all the Superbowl Rings, which get bigger and flashier each year – the 1st Super Bowl ring had a .5 carat diamond.  The latest Patriots ring had 4.85 carats (205 diamonds). BLING!

There are displays on “dynasties”:  Green Bay, Pittsburgh,  San Francisco, New England and the Dolphins' perfect year, of course.  A bit about referees especially Ed Hockley; equipment, each Commissioner, and many uniforms, balls, shoes and other player equipment.

Some discussion of various formations introduced over the years. A display on record holders is one of the few places Houston is mentioned, 1st as  loser in the biggest comeback (31 points in one quarter) with the Buffalo Bills - Sadly we remember this embarrassment.  Secondly, JJ Watt joins an elite 4 players to score from a reception, a recovered fumble and an interception all in one game

This one's for you, Mom.

Not much is mentioned about player  safety or injuries – only that recent commissioners addressed issues of player safety.  A little bit about Players’ Association and Collective Bargaining.   A film on the Superbowl 50 made it seem a lot more exciting than we remember.

From Canton, we drive north to Cuyahoga Valley National Park, which  protects the wooded area along the old Ohio & Erie Canal and the Ohio River.  It is rather unique in its proximity to large population areas (Cleveland, Akron and surrounding areas).  It was first developed as a National Recreation Area in 1974, and became a National Park under President Ford in 2000. (Not sure of the complete story, but politics was surely involved.)  The park is largely day use, with miles of biking and hiking trails.  We watched a film and talked with a knowledgeable park volunteer named Larry Hahn.  Then we visited 60’ Brandywine Falls,

and an area called The Ledges.  Both quite beautiful and unique.

The cicadas were incredibly noisy in this area and flying all over.
We traveled a few miles east to Silver Springs Campground, a municipal park in the city of Stow.  Nicely kept, nice sites, though we had an issue with the electrical connection and in the end just disconnected and dry camped. 

Not far away, over a large hill, there was a large baseball complex with 3 games going on. We heard an occasional “ring” of the bat – no Louisville sluggers here!  Beautiful Summer evening.