Peyton Manning revealed last week that the Pro Football Hall of Fame will limit enshrinement speeches to eight minutes. The former quarterback said he’s timed his speech at 7 minutes, 50 seconds.
“They’ve stressed that (brevity) in the past, but I don’t think it was enforced very well,” Manning said Friday, via Ted Lewis of NOLA.com. “This time, my fellow inductees and I have kind of talked about ‘Let’s everybody be respectful of the person coming behind you and be on time.’ Besides, I don’t want to be up there and have them start flashing a red light and playing music and finally having somebody come up and yank me off.”
The Pro Football Hall of Fame confirmed Tuesday that it strictly will enforce time limits this year with 19 inductees scheduled to speak over two days. The Centennial Class of 2020 will earn induction Aug. 7, with the Class of 2021 following a day later.
“Enshrinees for both classes have been asked to limit their remarks to six minutes,” the Hall said in a statement. “An ‘Academy-Awards style’ musical cue, if needed, would end each speech at eight minutes.”
In 2019, the last time Canton hosted an induction ceremony, tight end Tony Gonzalez went for nearly 40 minutes and safety Ed Reed for more than 35.
The Hall also announced the order of induction speakers for the two days. The Saturday event begins at 6:30 p.m. ET, with the Sunday ceremony starting at 7 p.m.
The order for the Class of 2020 is: Harold Carmichael, Cliff Harris, Edgerrin James, Steve Atwater, Paul Tagliabue, Steve Hutchinson, Donnie Shell, Isaac Bruce, Jimbo Covert, Troy Polamalu, Jimmy Johnson and Bill Cowher. The Hall also will show special video tributes to the eight members of the Centennial Class elected posthumously – Bobby Dillon, Winston Hill, Alex Karras, Steve Sabol, Duke Slater, Mac Speedie, Ed Sprinkle and George Young.
The order for the Class of 2021 is: Drew Pearson, Tom Flores, Peyton Manning, John Lynch, Calvin Johnson, Alan Faneca and Charles Woodson. The Hall also will show a video tribute to the late Bill Nunn during the ceremony.