Steve Hutchinson Reacts to Making Hall of Fame
When the knock finally came, Steve Hutchinson was overcome with emotion.
Every year, the 15 finalists for selection to the Pro Football Hall of Fame are told to go back to their hotel rooms and wait. When the selection committee has voted and the results are tallied up, Hall of Fame President David Baker delivers the news. If you get a phone call, it's Baker calling to tell you that you didn't make it. If you get a knock on the door, it's the 6-foot-9, 400-pound Baker showing up to deliver some of the best news of your life.
You're a Hall of Famer.
Hutchinson had gotten the phone call in each of the last two years, his dreams crushed and deferred for another 365 days. Deep down, he was expecting another phone call this time. So when the knock came, the reality of what that meant set it immediately. He couldn't hold back tears. Neither could his family.
"Welcome to Canton, Ohio, brother," Baker said. "Thank you for all you've done for the game. You're going to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. We're going to tell your story for the rest of time."
Hutchinson was the last of the five-member modern-era class of 2020 to get the visit from Baker, due to his hotel room being on the highest floor. "I don't ever want to do this again," Hutchinson said. He never will. He'll be enshrined in August, and his bust will be on display in Canton forever. He has become a part of football immortality.
Later on Saturday, Hutchinson met with the media and described what the feeling of getting that knock was like.
“I’m thinking, ‘I’m getting another late [rejection] call," Hutchinson said, according to Mark Craig of the Star Tribune. "As soon as the knock happens, it’s hard to explain. It’s like a weighted vest is taken immediately off your shoulders. That last 10 minutes, it seemed like it was seven hours. It was crazy. I was getting all tight. Then you get the knock and ... you start floating. And it’s like, ‘Is this real?’ We all just kind of broke down at once. It’s great. It’s indescribable.”
Hutchinson, the seven-time Pro Bowler who starred for both the Seahawks and Vikings, is a Hall of Famer. That's worth repeating again and again. One of the best parts of that fact is it means he never has to go through the agonizing wait again.
He made it.
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