HOFRoomSetupMint Musings: A Hall of Fame Experience – Fresh off of attending the 2015 National Sports Collectors Convention, I found myself on the road again. The destination this time was the McKinley Grand Hotel in Canton, Ohio. The assignment was to interview members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame for various projects. Courtesy of Pete Quaglierini and NFL Auction, I had the chance to interact with several football greats, including Curtis Martin and Warren Moon.

This was definitely a bit different from covering the National or the Industry Summit as I found myself running around the hotel for two days trying to track down the players to ask them to speak to us. Many of them were gracious enough to volunteer their time, and I found myself having good conversations with many of them. One of these came courtesy of Cowboys great Bob Lilly. Having mailed him a fan letter several years ago, I relished the chance to thank him in person for having signed my football card. He responded graciously and said that he still signs through the mail for a small fee for charity.

Perhaps the nicest interaction I had throughout the weekend was with former Steelers center Dermontti Dawson. I ran into him a few times throughout the weekend, and he consistently had a smile on his face. He was incredibly polite and personable every time he saw me. If ever there was someone who could teach athletes how to behave around their fans, it would be Mr. Dawson.

NFL Auction was kind enough to allow me into their room in order to ask the players for interviews. They set up a large amount of memorabilia, including various helmets and footballs, for the Hall of Famers to sign. Everything NFL Auction got signed was done so for the purpose of putting it online for sale. All of the profits generated were being used to help out some of the former greats of the game who needed some assistance.

It was interesting to see the range of reactions from the players doing the signings. Some of them were incredibly altruistic about it, while others literally counted every item they were asked to do, just wanting to be done and get out. Some players, such as Dan Dierdorf, were confused by the irritated reaction and non-participation by some of his Hall of Fame peers, saying if it was for a good cause to help out their fellow players, why wouldn’t they do it? In the end though, it was a nice gesture by all of the players who participated and volunteered some of their time for a good cause.

One cool autograph story came courtesy of former Cardinals great Aeneas Williams. Also a former Ram, he made his love of the Rams in St. Louis pretty clear with a unique inscription. For the Rams mini-helmets he signed, he added the phrase “# Keep the Rams in the STL” to his signature. I’ve never seen this inscription before, so if you find yourself interested in it, I would recommend checking the site quickly as he only signed a few of these. If you would like to bid on these Hall of Fame signed items while helping out former players, please go to .com/auction.

I noticed many autograph seekers throughout the weekend. There were about a dozen at Canton/Akron’s airport looking to get autographs from Lem Barney and Ron Wolf. There were also many autograph seekers at the hotel each looking to get signatures from the Hall of Famers. If you’re ever looking to work the McKinley Grand Hotel for autographs, I have to warn you the barriers set up by the hotel are a decent ways away from the main entrance.

Basically, you’re not getting autographs of any of the players there unless they choose to come over and sign. To their credit, some of the Hall of Famers, including Dave Wilcox, did take the time to sign autographs for the fans gathered there.

Overall, the experience was a positive one. It’s not often that you get to meet so many players who have had a profound impact on the game. Especially considering the recent death of Frank Gifford, you never know if you’ll see some of these greats again. I was fortunate enough to make some new friendships with the people at NFL Auction, which is one of the best parts of hitting the road. Long shoot days can sometimes be a grind, but it certainly helps when you have some friendly people to talk to. Either way, I’m hoping that I’ll have the chance to attend again in the future.

Mint Musings: A Hall of Fame Experience – Image Gallery


Kelsey’s ability to bring hobby coverage to the mainstream sports fan as the producer of ESPN’s Mint Condition has been a true asset. GTS is happy to feature his thoughts on the hobby in Mint Musings. The opinions expressed are his and do not necessarily reflect those of GTS Distribution.
Kelsey Schroyer

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