Junior Seau's death — a suicide after suffering from a brain disease called CTE brought out by NFL play — is already a tragedy in itself. His story took another sad turn today: Seau's family will not be allowed to speak at Seau's Hall of Fame induction.
His daughter, Sydney, was originally listed as a presenter in the Hall of Fame's press release. However, that can't happen thanks to a police very few people know about:
The policy of the Pro Football Hall of Fame since 2010 regarding individuals enshrined posthumously provides for an expanded presenting video (longer than the videos of living inductees) followed by the traditional unveiling of the bronzed bust and no additional comments made from the podium.
Seau's death cuts deeper than a black-and-white policy, though. Sydney will appear in the video tribute to him, but she told the New York Times this is not enough.
"It's frustrating because the induction is for my father and for the other players, but then to not be able to speak, it's painful," Sydney said. "I just want to give the speech he would have given. It wasn't going to be about this mess. My speech was solely about him."
Seau will be inducted alongside Tim Brown, defensive end Charles Haley, center Mick Tingelhoff, running back Jerome Bettis, guard Will Shields, and former general managers Bill Polian and Ron Wolf.
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[via ESPN]
