The Pro Football Hall of Fame as a museum

[Crazy Packers Fan]

This post is not about PFHOF candidacy or election, so I figured it would make more sense to post here.

I'm a faithful Canton visitor; nearly every year I go to the Hall, and usually with different people each time. Since I first went in 1997 to celebrate Super Bowl XXXI, the place has gone through a lot of changes. The vast majority of them are great. Some of them, not so great. What I would like to do is talk about what I miss from the 90s-era PFHOF, and what the 20s-era PFHOF does better. I'm sure some of you probably remember the place before 1997, which I'd be fascinated to hear about.

90s Era Pros
- Every inductee had a plaque describing their career. You didn't have to guess or look up anything about them. You'd read it right there and learn exactly why they were in the PFHOF.
- Every team had its own section in multiple places in the museum. First, you'd have a stand that told the entire history of every team with a helmet of that team in a clear box. Then, in the back, there was a room which had artifacts from each team. I'll never forget how lonely the Buccaneers' section looked with just Lee Roy Selmon at the time. But at least they had an exhibit.
- The interactive area of the museum was unreal (in a good way). It had the "predict-a-play" game better known as QB1, which at the time was ground-breaking technology. It had a different trivia video game which also had state-of-the-art technology. Both of them were games you used to be able to find at your local Buffalo Wild Wings, though the restaurant didn't really implement these games until the 2000s.
- The interactive area also had footballs and carnival-style games for throwing footballs into nets. I can't emphasize how important this was to us kids. It may sound simple to you, but to us that was the coolest thing, to try to throw a football into a hole.
- Not only was the Super Bowl spinning theater brand new, but there was a second theater in the back near the store (now the concessions area). Back there, they'd show random NFL Films videos. When we went the first time, they had the 1996 Carolina Panthers season video. That was fascinating, and the first time I saw NFL Films outside of ESPN2.
- The rest of the museum was fascinating to someone interested in football like myself. I could have spent hours there studying everything. It was more like a museum than it is today. This is where my experience may differ with the random visitor's; I love studying that stuff, whereas the average visitor may just want to try on shoulder pads or something.
- The Super Bowl area had game summaries on pillars for all 30+ games. Naturally that'd be more difficult to have today, but it was fun to walk around the pillars and read about the various Super Bowls.
- The Fan Hall of Fame. Yes, there was a Fan Hall of Fame long, long before the one they have today. People got inducted every year. That got erased from existence during the renovation.

90s Era Cons:
- The place was extremely small compared to what it is today.
- There wasn't a 50-yard field attached to the museum.
- The stadium was smaller than my local high school's stadium.

20s Era Pros:
- Interactive touch screens in the busts gallery.
- Super Bowl rings on display
- Some interactive stuff such as trying on shoulder pads, measuring hand size, going into a replay booth, etc.
- The Black College Football Hall of Fame. Probably my favorite new exhibit in the Hall. Guys like Doug Williams finally get their due. Hopefully they don't run out of room, since it's in the little area where concessions used to be.

20s Era Cons:
- That Joe Namath video exhibit. Yes, part of the problem is that once you've seen it, it never changes. But that exhibit is a particular point of contention with me, because it takes up an enormous amount of space that used to be the area on other football leagues: the USFL, the WFL, and the various AFLs. Instead of learning all about the other pro leagues that existed besides the NFL, you now get a pep talk from Joe Willie Namath. I wouldn't be surprised if the NFL had something to do with that, but even so, I'd rather see one of the various helmet exhibits they had in that place during the 2000s than trying to get hyped up by Namath.
- The busts section. The place is crammed with busts, and instead of using the new space they have on busts, they've just crunched them all inside that tiny room. I nearly fainted in there one time because it was so hot and there were tons of people all packed together in there. Without the plaques for each Hall of Famer, you're given no context to who these people are. When people see Dan Reeves and Jimmy Johnson, they are confused as to which Reeves/Johnson they are. You have no idea why the guy got into the Hall of Fame, just the team(s) he was part of. To make matters worse, for the 21st century busts, they have them in alternating years down the hall. You've got 2000-2002-2004 etc. on one side and 2001-2003-2005 etc. on the other. People hate this, as I've heard quite a few times in there. Finally, no one "goes into the Hall of Fame as a Packer." For every player, all teams they played for are listed evenly. Brett Favre is listed equally as a Falcon, Jet, and Viking. Franco Harris is equally listed as a Steeler and a Seahawk. Tony Dorsett is equally Cowboy/Bronco. And so on. There's little context to how those players' careers went.
- The ruins of the interactive section. The interactive games are gone, replaced by old versions of Madden. Not good versions of Madden, either - we're talking about versions that are a couple years old and for a previous generation of consoles. Not to mention that they don't work well; often the Xboxes crash. There's no place for kids to throw around footballs. The biggest exhibit on display is a dress worn by Carrie Underwood. At least they have taken out the old games that don't work anymore, but kids will never know how fun that part of the Hall used to be. That used to be my favorite spot as a kid.
- No more sections for each team in the league. You used to be able to pose next to your team's helmet and read the story of your team's history. That is gone completely.
- There literally is an exhibit on the Pro Bowl.

So, that's what I think about the Hall having been there many, many times in the last quarter-century. In short, I feel the Hall could do better. It would be a dream of mine to work for the Hall - and get to work on improving things!

[JohnTurney]

which I'd be fascinated to hear about.

Small library. Upgraded in the era you talked about--a lot more room, a lot more access.
More now, bigger, much less access and help. Joe Horrigan and Pete Fierly knew where everything
was and could take you right to it. Now, they do some great things in terms of preservation but
the people don't know all of what they have and when you describe it to them they still
may not understand what you are asking for...press releases, certain playbooks, etc.

But still, a great place, the young guys will learn with time... I remember more art on the walls
in certain corridors that was not there in the 2010s . . . little stuff like that.

It's better now, IMO, sometimes bigger is better...some of the quaintness is gone. Now, for
the retirement home and all that stuff, that's a wait-and-see.