My three-week cross-country road trip started on March 22 and the entire first day was all about driving seven hours from New York to our first stop in Canton, Ohio. My goal every day was to drive a set number of miles, stop and visit something in the area and then stay over before doing it again the next day. As a huge football fan (check out my first Green Bay Packers game at Lambeau Field — a dream come true!), I knew that I had to stop at the Pro Football Hall of Fame!

I loved it. Of course there is so much more at the HOF than what I posted here, but being a Green Bay Packers fan I was drawn to the memorabilia that they were in. Their history with the first two Super Bowls, learning more about their incredible coach Vince Lombardi and seeing some of the artificats about the games were amazing.

Did you know that the Super Bowl was named after a children’s toy? Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt suggested the term “Super Bowl” inspired by his son’s Super Ball toy, but the name wasn’t used until later.

The first item I saw on my tour of the HOF was Tom Landry’s hat. I had an emotional reaction to being this close to the hat. My mother was a die-hard Dallas Cowboys fan. For years, I would hear about ‘The Hat’ (what she called Landry) and whether or not he was having a good or a bad day. My mom passed away on April 4, 2022. We buried her with a Dallas Cowboys mini blanket. She loved Tom Landry and her Cowboys and that hat gutted me for a few minutes.

Continuing on, I enjoyed looking at the jerseys and cleats and learning what game they were worn in (even the Tom Brady ones! LOL). You’ll soon see that I love being close to memorabilia of any kind. I stopped in a few different museums along the way and loved all of it.

The HOF is also home to the Black College Football Hall of Fame, an amazing display of talented athletes who have really made an impact on the game.

Puppet Fun

On a more comical side, the museum also had the Swaybox Studios puppets of Marshawn Lynch, Peyton Manning and more. They were created by the New Orleans-based Swaybox Studios for an NFL commercial. I remember that commercial and seeing them upclose was fun! Here’s the commercial:

The busts of every member of the Hall of Fame can also really be emotional. The NFL is filled with so many talented athletes and these are the best of the best. Remembering the impact they had on the game and the sport is a moment we should all take in. In addition, the artistry is enough to admire if nothing else. So life like!

Now I was told that the wall of championship rings are actually mock-ups, not the real things. Understandable, but I think I would have appreciated looking at them a bit more if they were actually real.

We spent about an hour and a half touring the museum, but truth be told you can spend more time there. I did have to get back on the road again so I couldn’t spend hours, but what I did see was really enjoyable.

Everybody is going to love something different at the Pro Football Hall of Fame (looking for your own team’s memorabilia is fun in itself!). The kids also have plenty to look at and do if they don’t want to read all of the displays. On the lower level of the museum they can play EA Sports Madden Football, test their knowledge in trivia challenge, design a championship ring and more.

If You Go

For hours, ticket price information and more, visit their website https://www.profootballhof.com.

(Full blogger disclosure that I was provided a guest ticket by the Hall of Fame. I would like to thank them for their hospitality.)