Canton has long been touted as the birthplace of American pro football and provides the perfect location for this hall of fame which opened in 1963 and enshrined the first 17 inductees. Unlike other hall of fames dedicated to baseball, basketball and hockey, this football place of worship only commemorates the careers of the athletes, coaches and owners but to date includes no fawning space for game officials, a boon to fans who hate referees! Inductees are not commemorated in the Hall of Fame as a member of a certain team. Rather, all of an inductee's affiliations are listed equally. The enshrined are selected by a 46-person committee, largely made up of sportswriters, officially known as the Board of Selectors. There are also 11 at-large delegates, usually cities that lose their teams, to maintain representation on the board.
In addition to the bust sculptures of each pro football athlete, inductees receive a distinctive golden jacket and previous inductees nearly always wear theirs when participating at new inductee ceremonies. These ceremonies are usually held the first full weekend in August. An enshrinement festival is held throughout the week in Canton leading up to the induction ceremonies which features a hot air balloon fest, barbeque, parades and a football game.
One of the new features that resulted in the hall’s expansion in 1995 was the addition of the GameDay Stadium, which shows historical football films on a 20-foot by 42-foot Cinemascope screen. Among the new exhibits is the Pro Football Today Gallery, which features many artifacts from milestone moments during the 2013 pro-ball Season. Once you’ve seen and heard from the best athletes the game has had to offer, our great selection of Choice hotels near Pro Football Hall of Fame are sure to make you feel like a MVP. Book a guest room with us today!