Story by Barry Wilner (APnews.com)
It was going to be the “greatest gathering in football ever.” And then the coronavirus pandemic swept across America.
David Baker, president and CEO of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, makes that assessment of the planned 100th birthday celebration for the NFL. The league was born on Sept. 17, 1920, and Canton, Ohio, the home of the hall, was going to stage events a century in the making.
While those plans, including the induction of a special 2020 class, have been delayed until next August, the enthusiasm of Baker and his colleagues can’t be dimmed. On Thursday night, at halftime of the Bengals-Browns game — fittingly, the “Battle of Ohio” — the hall and the NFL dedicated Centennial Plaza in downtown Canton.
