By Todd McMahon
News-Chronicle
CANTON, Ohio - James Lofton had a tough act to follow. Nineteen acts, to be exact.
At 3:32 p.m. Eastern time Sunday, when son David stepped to the podium on the end-zone stage, Lofton officially became the 20th Green Bay Packer to gain enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. No easy task, considering all of the Packers canonized before the wide receiver were Curly Lambeau, Vince Lombardi or disciples of the two franchise patriarchs.
In the company of seven of those Hall of Famers - Willie Davis, Forrest Gregg, Paul Hornung, Jim Ringo, Bart Starr, Jim Taylor and Willie Wood - Lofton, 47, put a stamp on the acceptance of the new generation of Packers legends with a speech packed with an assortment of anecdotes, lots of thanks and a few tears.
"I'm very proud of James," said Gregg, head coach for Lofton's final three seasons in Green Bay. "He was a great football player and had a wonderful career. He most certainly deserves to be here."
Close to a thousand spectators clad in green and gold, some of them wearing No. 80 jerseys, filled one section of the south bleachers at Pro Football Hall of Fame Field at Fawcett Stadium.
Neither a steady drizzle during the first part of the 3 1/2-hour ceremony deterred their anticipation to witness Lofton's impending induction nor did it dampen the proverbial spotlight that shined only on him for 20 minutes.
Lofton, who played the first nine of his 16 NFL seasons with the Packers from 1978 to '86, followed former Kansas City Chiefs head coach Hank Stram as the second inductee on the dais. They joined Houston Oilers defensive end Elvin Bethea, Buffalo Bills/Cleveland Browns offensive guard Joe DeLamielleure and Los Angeles Raiders/Kansas City Chiefs running back Marcus Allen as the Class of 2003.
Only a third of the 22,000-seat stadium was filled because of the dreary weather.
The rain stopped and the clouds started to break, though, when Lofton's turn arose. It was as if Lambeau and Lombardi were orchestrating things from the heavens, making sure the induction went off without a hitch.
David Lofton, a 19-year-old sophomore quarterback at Stanford University, introduced his father with an eloquent five-minute speech.
The oldest of James and Beverly's three children closed with a story from his summer before entering Plano (Texas) West High School. David was none too happy that James roused him from sleep early in the morning most days and had the then-14-year-old run with him on the track and lift weights.
"That season, I realized how much I had benefited from all of the workouts that I, at one time, despised," David told the crowd. "I now look at that summer as a turning point in my athletic career. My dad taught me how not to settle for mediocrity, to expect the best from myself and how to achieve it. "Without his advice, support, (inspirational) quotations (derived from books and movies) and early-morning wakeup calls, I'm sure I would not be where I am today."
David, the eighth person to present his father in the 40-year history of the Hall of Fame, then accentuated the appreciation with his closing remarks:
"Dad, I congratulate you on being a new member of the Hall of Fame, but your accomplishments in the NFL do not compare to what you've accomplished as a father and a role model. I love you; I'm proud of you; I thank you for teaching me how to be an athlete and, most importantly, a man.
"Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of myself and my family, I present to you a proud new member of the Hall of Fame, James Lofton."
Taking in the applause for a few moments and thanking the attendees who were standing, Lofton opened his acceptance speech by uttering, "Well, you can see he got his smarts from his mother."
That brought a big smile to Beverly's face. She was flanked by son Daniel, 16, and daughter Rachel, 12, in the front row of the seats on the field.
Beverly and Daniel wore Lofton's replica Packers jersey, whileRachel donned his Buffalo Bills No. 80 jersey.
Lofton played for the Bills from 1989 to '92. He previously was with the Los Angeles Raiders for two seasons following a trade from Green Bay. His career ended in 1993 with stints with the Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia.
"As I stand here, I have to ask myself, 'How did you get to the Hall of Fame?'" Lofton said. "My path to the Hall of Fame can be summed up by faith, family and football."
Naturally, Lofton became the first Packer to gain induction since defensive tackle Henry Jordan in 1995 because of how he performed on the football field.
The epitome of a deep-threat receiver, Lofton ranks third in NFL history with 14,004 receiving yards. He averaged 18.3 yards per catch, ranking 10th in the league record book with 764 receptions.
He remains the Packers' all-time leader with 9,656 receiving yards.
Not too shabby from someone who was a defensive tackle in Pop Warner youth football in California, a self-described "average high school quarterback" and nothing more than a role player his first three years of college football at Stanford.
"OK, I'll be honest, I was a nonstarter, a bench warmer," clarified Lofton, eliciting laughter from the crowd.
His career didn't seem destined to merit Hall of Fame consideration when he started the first game of his senior season at Stanford in 1977 and had no catches. First-year head coach Bill Walsh, the innovator of the West Coast offense and a Hall of Famer himself, looked on the bright side after the game.
"He told me I'd be OK and that I would catch a dozen passes in a game," recalled Lofton, with Walsh on hand Sunday. "And, I'm thinking, 'Yeah, the coach is just blowing a little smoke up me. Here's a guy who's been riding the pine for three years, and he's telling me I'm going to catch a dozen passes in a game.'
"But, a dozen it was by the middle of the season against the Washington Huskies. Thank you, Bill Walsh, for having confidence in me when my own was pretty low."
Catches were in abundance for Lofton thereafter. Lynn Dickey was the primary benefactor during Lofton's tenure with the Packers.
Lofton had back-to-back, league-leading seasons of racking up at least 1,300 yards with Dickey at quarterback in 1984 and '85.
"Most of those completions while I was with the Green Bay Packers, Lynn Dickey was flat on his back," Lofton said. "One of the toughest men I've ever been around."
A few years later, Lofton aligned with Bills quarterback Jim Kelly, also a Hall of Famer, and respected him as much as he did Dickey.
By signing with the Bills in 1989, after Philadelphia had to take a pass because it couldn't afford him, Lofton finally enjoyed the winning that eluded him in Green Bay. The Bills went to the Super Bowl three straight years with Lofton playing an integral role as the team's No. 3 receiver.
"When a quarterback first comes into the league, he's normally labeled cocky. As he gets a little older, he's labeled confident. I can think of another 'C' word, and it's controlled," Lofton said. "Jim Kelly could control a football game."
Lofton also paid homage to the Hall of Fame coaches in his career - Jack Christiansen and Walsh at Stanford, Starr and Gregg with the Packers and Marv Levy with the Bills.
Of Starr, who while doubling as general manager selected the receiver with the sixth overall pick in the 1978 NFL Draft, Lofton said: "In six seasons, Bart taught me about priorities. When I mentioned faith, family and football, I stole it from him."
Of the fiery Gregg, Lofton remarked: "Forrest taught me the pride of the battles."
The most poignant moments of Lofton's 15-minute speech, which exceeded the preferred seven-minute time allotment, came when he spoke of his family.
His father, Mike Lofton, raised James and his siblings by himself. Mike died in 1990, four years after oldest child Michael suffered the same fate. Lofton's sisters, Angelica and Sapphire, attended the ceremony.
He was overcome by emotion toward the end of the speech when he touched on his relationship with Beverly, to whom he's been married 22 years.
"My bust will be enshrined across the street at 2121 George Halas Drive, but to all of those who know me, my Hall of Fame is my family," Lofton said. "Without a doubt, my path to the Hall of Fame began Dec. 31, 1979, when I met Beverly ..."
At that point, tears welled in James Lofton's eyes. The only signs of moisture with the sun peeking through the clouds.
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