Seau’s family and the HOF
Aug 3, 2014; Canton, OH, USA; General view of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The Pro Football Hall of Fame has a policy that limits the speakers at the enshrinement ceremony to just the Hall of Famers being inducted. They’ve had this policy since 2010, but unfortunately for Junior Seau’s family, they haven’t been all that vocal about it.
Junior Seau killed himself in 2012 after suffering from CTE. Seau’s daughter, Sydney, certainly at some point got the impression that she would be presenting her father for induction but, the Hall recently reminded her of their policy that players inducted posthumously only get the benefit of a video presentation, which Sydney will speak in.
Cindy Boren of the Washington Post explains the Hall’s policy and that they decided, in 2010, to stop allowing speeches about deceased players and limit the speakers to just the living newly inducted Hall of Fame members.
It looks like the Hall is purposely trying to keep Seau’s family (who sued the NFL for wrongful death in 2013) from speaking about his CTE damage and suicide but the reality is they are just very bad at explaining their policies.
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