During his NFL Hall of Fame speech, Deion Sanders dramatically tried to tell us that the media criticized him for his flamboyant persona. Huh? The media loved and loves Neon Deion, Primetime.
Do a Google search and most of the headlines mention Sanders but none, other than the Washington Post, mentions Washington Redskins great Chris Hanburger. There’s “Football Hall of Fame enshrines Deion Sanders, six others.” Then there’s “Sanders, Sharpe steal show in Canton.” And even “Sanders, Sharpe, Faulk, Dent enter Hall of Fame.” I could go on and on but you get the idea.
The Associated Press article got around to mentioning Chris Hanburger in the 38th paragraph of a 44-paragraph article. It’s true that it’s been more than 30 years since Hanburger played but I suspect that it’s more about today’s celebrity culture exemplified by brash, showboating, loud mouths like Deion Sanders and Shannon Sharpe.
Sanders’ presenter, his agent of all people, talked about how Sanders changed the game. Yeah, he helped necessitate the NFL putting in a rule about taunting. Don’t get me wrong, Sanders was a great talent (until late in his career) but he’s a guy I wouldn’t want to have on my team.
Hanburger, on the other hand, is someone I’d want on my team. For one his nickname “The Hangman” was given to him by teammates, not himself. But he was in it to do the best job he could to win the game. Sanders came across as a self-promoter – a “look at me, look at me” type guy. Not surprisingly, CBS Sports ran a story on the inductions with a picture of Sanders beside his likeness with the headline, “Look at me now.”
Sanders said during his speech that he was motivated by the fact that he was ashamed that his mother “pushed a cart around at the hospital” while other players had parents who were doctors and lawyers and police chiefs. He said at age 7 that he was going to be rich and he set out to do just that with football and the persona that he thought would bring attention to him. About 14 years later, his mother didn’t have to work that “lowly” job at the hospital.
It sounds more like to me that he needed counseling to teach him the truth that there is nothing wrong with someone doing the “dirty work” at a hospital. Had he respected the work she did, I suppose he wouldn’t have had the motivation to become “Prime Time.”
But the media ate up his comments describing the tale as “poignant” and “emotional” and “inspiring.” For me I cringed as he talked about being ashamed of his mother for the work she did while she was sitting there in the audience looking up at him.
He said he knew defensive backs didn’t make the big money so he created this image. “You could love him or hate him but he was Prime Time. I would rehearse quotes and sayings. I knew I had the substance, the goods, the work ethic but I need to secure myself enough that my Mama would never have to work another day of her life.”
I guess someone else’s mama is cleaning up the hospital now.
Anyway, rather than hearing Sanders’ shout outs to guys like Snoop Dogg, it was refreshing to hear Hanburger pay tribute to the military, which he called the real Hall of Famers, the real heroes.
It was refreshing to hear about how Hanburger, far from scripting his way to a career, didn’t even know he’d been selected to play pro football. It was refreshing to hear a humble Hanburger say, “I think they were just running out of folks to grab when I got drafted. It was like throwing darts at a board and somebody hit my name and the Redskins got stuck with me.”
Sanders could have used some of that humility. Of course Hanburger went too far minimizing himself. And his speech, which he admitted to winging, wasn’t perfect. There was very little mention of the Redskins organization (he spent his entire career with them) and no mention of Coach George Allen, whom he loved and whom he spoke glowingly about to me in a recent interview. But those are things that happen when you wing it.
Interestingly, it appears that Sanders, the social butterfly, and Hanburger, the borderline recluse, despite having never met, have become fast friends over the last few days. After Sanders’ speech he hugged and spoke to each of the inductees but his hug and his conversation with Hanburger lasted the longest.
During his speech, Sanders alluded to the friendship. “I made a new friend. His name is Chris Hanburger. Chris, I love you man. You’re a good dude.”
I’m sure Sanders is a decent guy himself behind his hotdoggin’ over-the-top persona, which obviously worked for him in today’s culture. But it sure was refreshing to hear a solid – but perhaps boring by today’s standards – old white guy like Chris Hanburger.