It is a tradition that is synonymous with immortality in football. It all starts with David Baker, the president and CEO of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, standing in front of a hotel door, the top of a six-foot head with the top of the frame. All the Hall of Fame class finalists of that year were invited to the host city of the Super Bowl and stayed in a hotel.
Then, with his head slightly bowed and a smile plastered on his face, his huge right fist knocks on the door in a rhythmic pattern, a life-changing four or five knock rhapsody that precedes the news men on the other side have waited for years , sometimes decades, to listen.
“On behalf of the Professional Football Hall of Fame, I am privileged to welcome you to Canton, Ohio,” says Baker frequently. “I want to thank you for everything you did for the game … and for everything you are going to do for the game.”
For Baker, who has been in his current role in the Hall since 2014, breaking the news via “The Knock” to newly elected members of the HOF the day before the Super Bowl has become the biggest highlight of his work.
“How do you make a man cry? Tell him that they will be in Canton, Ohio, ”Baker recently told Yahoo Sports with a laugh.
How the Professional Football Hall of Fame ‘Knock’ Tradition Started
It was not always so. This is a relatively new tradition for the Hall, a tradition that even those who preceded it have adopted.
“Wow, you know I never thought about how they told me,” former Dallas Cowboys star Troy Aikman told Yahoo Sports recently. “I know that the great David Baker didn’t come knocking on my door.”
Baker said the idea was conceived while he informed members of the 2014 Class that they entered.
“It’s so joyful and so special and it’s a lifelong affirmation for these guys to know that they were selected to, I think, do it over the phone and for them to read in the paper is to deny them something they won,” said Baker.
Specifically, it was the reaction of former Raiders bettor Ray Guy, a finalist who had been qualified for three decades, that helped define that point for Baker. He was quickly hit by the weight of the moment.
“I said, ‘Hey, Ray, this is Dave Baker, I’m the new president of the Hall,'” said Baker, “and he has that slow Southern Mississippi accent and said, ‘Yes, sir’ … and I said, ‘Ray, it’s a great pleasure’ and I got so far and could hear him fall to the floor and his phone was rattling – his wife is saying, ‘Baby, honey, are you okay?’ “
Two minutes passed before he got up again.
“I thought I killed my first Hall of Fame,” Baker continued with a laugh. “But finally, he said, ‘Hey, I’m sorry, I don’t think I understand how much that has meant to me.
“And from that moment on, I started talking to the NFL Network in particular about how we can capture this for fans to see? It was a great moment for me. I understood something. “
With the help of the NFL Network, which, he said, pays finalists to participate every year, they started the tradition that created “The Knock”. The end result usually includes cameras that capture adult men crying in a mixture of joy and relief, with loved ones screaming and jumping after them seconds after Baker’s hit. Everything became widely appreciated and good publicity for the Hall.
It wasn’t always easy, as they also had to refine the process through trial and error.
“God help him, Kevin Greene, he couldn’t do it one year, but he was in a room next to someone who did it and it hurt his feelings,” said Baker. “And then we learned from that, ‘Hey, before someone celebrates next door, we have to go get these other guys first because we hate to disappoint them, but we can’t disrespect them in any way.”
Only eight of the 18 finalists in a given year can go, which means that “The Knock” doesn’t come for some, which can be a brutal experience for finalists who participate in multiple entries.
It is a difficult enough experience that Terrell Owens, for example, declined the invitation to return after losing Hall in 2017, his second time as a finalist. He ended up entering, but skipped the consecration ceremony the following summer and consistently stated that he did not regret it.
The vast majority of finalists keep coming back.
COVID Hall of Fame Knock Process Changes
Of the 2021 finalists, several are multi-timers who have experienced their fair share of disappointment. Due to COVID’s concerns, they were unable to meet at a hotel and wait for the usual knock on their bedroom door. Tradition still lives on.
The Hall of Fame’s 48-member selection committee meets the day before the Super Bowl to select that year’s class, after which the finalists who did this are immediately informed of the news. However, the selection committee chose this year’s class about two weeks ago, which gave Baker time to inform those who failed and to travel around the country to inform those who did.
“They didn’t have that tension of being in a hotel room, you know, wondering if they would get a knock or a phone call,” said Baker. “But it was a real surprise, and many of them were able to share this with people who meant a lot to them.”
The general public will hear about it in Class 2021 at the NFL Honors Show on Saturday night, and the new process was smooth enough that Baker would not rule out doing it again in 2022, depending on the country’s pandemic situation.
Having the 2022 finalists gathered in Los Angeles, home to the Super Bowl LVI, can also be great, Baker acknowledged. Meanwhile, Baker is excited for people to see what they have in store for this year.
“I think it will be very special,” he said.
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