The rain stopped and as the sun was slowly setting on historic Fawcett Stadium, Claude Humphrey’s wait of more than three decades to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame was over.
Humphrey’s bust was unveiled, and he preceded to give an emotional and rousing speech Saturday.
Humphrey, perhaps the greatest player ever to wear the Falcons’ red and black, joined Deion Sanders as the only player drafted by the franchise to be enshrined here.
Humphrey retired after the 1981 season. After the mandatory five-year wait for consideration, 27 more years passed before Humphrey was able to have his bust made.
It was a long wait for Humphrey, who was a finalist in 2003, 2005 and 2006. He fell short in 2009 as a senior candidate, before being presented again by the senior’s committee in February.
Humphrey is the first player who played most of his career with the Falcons to be enshrined. He was put into the Falcons’ Ring of Honor with a banner in the Georgia Dome on Nov. 28, 2012.
Humphrey was presented Saturday by his daughter, Cheyenne Humphrey-Robinson, who became the third daughter to serve as a presenter.
“He loved the game,” Humphrey-Robinson said. “He loved what he did.”
She talked about him coming home with bloodied hands and knuckles from playing the game so violently.
Humphrey, 6-foot-4 and 252 pounds, was drafted with the third overall pick out of Tennessee State by the Falcons in the 1968 draft. He went on to become a six-time Pro Bowler and was named first-team All-Pro five times.
“I didn’t want that job (of blocking him),” former Denver running back Floyd Little said. “Claude was a beast. He was a great, great defensive end.”
The Falcons managed but three winning seasons in his 11-year career with the team. He was a key member of the “Grits Blitz,” the Falcons’ defense that still holds the record for fewest points allowed in a 14-game season, with 129.
He spoke glowingly of former Falcons coaches Marion Campbell and Jerry Glanville.
“One of the finest men ever to walk on this earth,” Humphrey said of Campbell.
He credited Glanville with creating the “Grits Blitz” defense.
Humphrey temporarily retired after four games in the 1978 season. Some contend that he quit on the Falcons. The notion that he walked out on his team may have hurt his Hall of Fame candidacy and contributed to the long wait.
“I just left,” Humphrey said. “I was following my mind.”
He gave a shout out to his roommate, Kenny Reaves — “He taught me what it was like to be a pro football player.” — and to his buddy, tight end Jim Mitchell. He also talked about his battles in practice with offensive tackle George Kunz.
Humphrey was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles for two fourth-round picks in 1979. He went on to play three more seasons for the Eagles.
In 1980, at age 36, Humphrey amassed 14.5 sacks and helped the Eagles reach the Super Bowl.
“He played defensive left end for us,” said Dick Vermeil, the Eagles’ coach at the time. “We would rest him and play him in nickel situations as a pass rusher. But he was more than just a pass rusher. He prided himself on making a tackle as much as making a sack.”
Other members of the Hall of Fame class included cornerback Aeneas Williams (Arizona Cardinals/St. Louis Rams), defensive end Michael Strahan (New York Giants), wide receiver Andre Reed (Buffalo Bills/Washington Redskins), offensive tackle Walter Reed (Seattle Seahawks) and linebacker Derrick Brooks (Tampa Bay Buccaneers).
There was a lot of support for Humphrey in attendance.
Falcons president Rich McKay, former running back and part-owner Warrick Dunn, former Falcons center Jeff Van Note and Vermeil were on hand to see Humphrey be enshrined.
In the end, Humphrey, who waited a little more than 30 years, gave a 30-minute speech.
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