I was part of a great Hall of Fame class that included Tom Mack, Ozzie Newsome, Billy Shaw and Lawrence Taylor. We all got along, which I thought was the most important thing. Because of our speeches, we knew that the ceremony was going to be a tense moment. Everyone wanted to say the right thing and thank everyone.
|  | | Eric Dickerson talks in Canton, Ohio, about his Hall of Fame moment. |
One of the big running jokes was that somebody would forget to thank someone. And sure enough, it happened to Shaw, because he went first. He kept teasing me all week. They all knew I was really nervous about getting up there to speak. Everywhere I went that week, I thought about that speech.
So when the time came for our induction, Shaw forget to thank his wife. And then when he sat down next to me, he looked right in her face and whispered, "Oh my God, I forgot my wife." And I said, "I'll take care of it." And I can see his wife doing the cutthroat thing, saying, "No, no, no." Shaw then said, "Do it."
When I got up to give my speech, I said we had a lot of fun this week, but one of the big things we were going to forget was to thank someone. So I said, "Will Mrs. Bill Shaw please stand up?" And then everyone started laughing. He actually got down on his knees on the stage to her. That was one of the funniest moments of the ceremony.
Jackie Slater did such a great job as my presenter. Jackie was a very close friend of mine from our years with the Rams. He said afterward: "Eric, those were the things I feel about you." I have a great respect for him as a man, a friend, and a football player last. Jackie was the father figure on our team. For instance, if we were talking about girls in the locker room, Jackie would walk by and the conversation would suddenly stop. He said, "What?" and we would say, "Oh, nothing, nothing." We had that kind of respect for Jackie. I knew he would be great at the podium in Canton, and he was.
I didn't have a speech prepared until we were having breakfast that morning. I had a speech written out, but that wasn't my style. I don't work well just reading something. I do better just speaking off the cuff. So I jotted down little notes about people I wanted to talk about. I made a list of people, moments and situations. For me, I think it worked out great.
The one thing I really remember is the parade that morning, with about 100,000 people out on the street. That is something I will never forget. When you play football, you get booed in other cities and sometimes even your own city. But that day no one booed. It was all cheers.
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