Ty Law wore dark sunglasses throughout his 28-minute, 29-second Pro Football Hall of Fame speech. They couldn’t hide his tears.
Law, 45, became emotional several times and shed more than a few tears.
“There ain’t no crying in football,” Law said. “I know. My bad.”
Law, who played 203 games in 15 seasons with the Patriots, Jets and Chiefs, began his speech where his journey began -- in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania.
“If you believe you are something, you will find it,” Law said. “You will find that spirit, that thought. You start to move differently, think differently. Success in life is about having a proper belief system. You’ve got to believe in who you are. You must believe in yourself.
“There are so many other people that believed in me, too, and I can’t stress the importance in that. You’ve got to have people who cheer you along the way. But none of that matters if you don’t believe in yourself. To get to this point, I had to believe in myself.”
After thanking everyone who helped him get to Canton, Law circled back to where he began. He ended his speech by encouraging everyone to “believe in yourself.”
“You can’t wait for someone else to validate your purpose,” Law said. “You have to believe in yourself. You can’t wait for somebody else to tell you you’re great. You have to believe in yourself. You can’t wait for society to tell you that you’re beautiful or that you’re a good person. You have to believe that for yourself. I thank each and every one of you for believing in me and my dreams. Because of you, my legacy lives on. Thank you for this incredible honor.”