At the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, the greatest players and moments in the game’s history are honored.
The mission of the Hall goes beyond honoring history, however.
“Our mission statement says that we’ll honor the greatest of the game, preserve the game’s history, promote the game’s values, and celebrate excellence,” said Rich Desrosiers, the chief communications officer at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. “And that third pillar of promoting the game’s values is really where we can hone in with Deion, Warren and Marshall at Colorado or any of these other guys who are teaching or coaching.”
While the Colorado Buffaloes aren’t having the type of season they had envisioned – taking a 3-7 record into Saturday’s home finale against Arizona State – their gold jacket coaches have the attention of the Hall of Fame.
CU head coach Deion Sanders was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2011, as was running backs coach Marshall Faulk. Two years later, in 2013, defensive line assistant coach Warren Sapp was inducted.
“Well, there’s no question that I think a lot of the staff at the Pro Football Hall of Fame has paid a little bit more attention to Colorado Buffalo football than we might have otherwise,” Desrosiers said. “But for us, it fits nicely into the narrative that we tell a lot, especially to young kids coming through, using the game of football as an educational tool.”
They aren’t the only Hall of Famers to become coaches. In fact, many before them have taken that path, such as Mike Ditka, Mike Singletary, Bart Starr, Forrest Gregg, Mike Munchak, and more.
To have three of the NFL’s greatest players all on the same coaching staff, however, is unique.
“I hope that the kids at Colorado, the ones who are there now and the prospective recruits understand the kinds of message that they can get that has nothing to do with the X’s and O’s of the game,” Desrosiers said. “That’s as valuable as the games and the in-classroom education that they’re getting while being at Colorado.
“There’s a lot of kids at a lot of universities who would love to be hearing those messages.”
Sanders is highly regarded as the best cornerback to ever play the game, and Sapp can make an argument as the best defensive tackle. Faulk is one of the best running backs ever, and the only player in NFL history with at least 12,000 rushing yards (12,279) and 6,000 receiving yards (6,875) in his career.
“If you’re a Hall of Famer, you’re a Hall of Famer,” Desrosiers said, “but it doesn’t take long to pour through the record book to see the things that Deion did, the things that Warren did, the things that Marshall did and put them in the upper echelon of anybody who’s ever played the game.
“To get them all on one staff together with other coaches who are helping to train these players, that’s pretty significant and it’s something that we’ve taken notice of here.”
CU’s three gold jacket coaches are leaning on other Hall of Famers, too. Champ Bailey, Michael Irvin, Ray Lewis, Randy Moss and Terrell Owens are among the all-time greats that have come through Boulder and talked to CU players.
Meanwhile, CU’s coaches are using the resources they have as Hall of Famers. Faulk and Sapp returned to Canton for the Hall of Fame induction ceremony in August and came away with valuable messages.
“I bring them back messages from the great ones,” Sapp said in August. “I filmed personal messages from John Randle, Lawrence Taylor, Rickey Jackson and … Richard Dent, and I just soak it up from them and I bring it back to the babies.”
Faulk said he grew up a “football nut” and loves going back to Canton every year to visit with those who came before him.
“To be around the guys who gave me the opportunity to play this game and left the game in my hands, there’s nothing like it,” he said, adding he had great conversations with Tony Dorsett and Larry Little this year in Canton.
Although CU’s record is disappointing this season, Sanders, Faulk and Sapp are fulfilling that mission of the Hall of Fame in giving back to the younger generation.
“It’s always nice to hear one generation younger take value in the guys who built the game before them,” Desrosiers said of Faulk and Sapp learning from older greats. “At some point, Deion and Marshall and Warren will be the old guard, and guys who are in the game now when they become Hall of Famers, they’ll be the ones that they look to. It is fun for us to see kind of that passing of the torch.”