CANTON, Ohio - When Michael Irvin was in the prime of his playing career, and even soon after he retired, he promised himself to never walk through the Pro Football Hall of Fame until he was an official member.
However, those plans changed when his teammate, quarterback and great friend Troy Aikman was inducted before him in 2006.
Irvin finally made that walk last summer when we became a member of the 2007 Hall of Fame class.
But according to the Cowboys' all-time leading receiver, distancing himself from the history of the NFL for so many years was the wrong attitude to have.
In fact, Irvin now has a complete opposite view.
And that's why it was his idea that he shared with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell last summer to have each team in the league bring its rookies and first-year players to visit the Hall of Fame before they ever step foot on an NFL field.
On Friday, it was the Cowboys' turn as 18 rookies made the trip to Canton for a quick road trip.
But more than deliver the idea, Irvin accompanied the Cowboys on the trip as well, serving as a guest speaker for both the Cowboys and Eagles, whose rookies also visited the Hall of Fame.
"You guys are here for a reason," Irvin told both teams during his speech, alongside former Eagles Pro Bowler Troy Vincent. "You guys have a chance to do something special. Take advantage of that. Don't lose sight of why you're here. But remember, where you are now. It's a privilege to be a part of this league."
And it was a privilege for the rookies to roam the halls in Canton during what turned out to be a longer trip than expected.
In what was supposed to be just a day trip from Dallas to Cleveland, with a bus ride to Canton and then a return flight to Dallas later Friday night, bad weather in Cleveland forced the players to stay overnight and return Saturday morning.
"Oh well, there's nothing we can really do about it," said first-round pick Felix Jones. "At least we got to see the Hall of Fame. It was really cool. This is the best of the best. This is where all the great players before us are. It lets us know that the game is bigger than us. Guys like Michael Irvin came before us and passed the torch. Now we have to take it and do our best to keep it going."
Among the three-hour tour of the Hall of Fame, the rookies were able to review video highlights of every inducted player, get a closer look at some of the more memorable moments in the NFL history, and watched "Path to Glory," a special film presented by NFL Films.
But the favorite part of the trip for many of the players was the room that featured all of the bronze statue busts of each player.
"It's really cool to see all these statues in here of every guy . . . there's a lot of history in here," said Martellus Bennett, a second-round pick from Texas A&M. "Some of these guys I've never heard of, but a lot of them I have. So that's cool."
And just getting the chance to meet and hang out with Irvin and listen to some of his stories was more than a cool experience for the young players.
"You know that he's a guy who's been here and knows what it's like," said rookie free agent receiver Danny Amendola. "For him to come up here and talk to us, it means a lot. He's one of the best to ever play, so you always want to listen when guys like that have something to say."
Irvin, a five-time Pro Bowler, holds several Cowboys records, including most career catches (750) and receiving yards (11,904). He was selected to the All-Decade team of the 1990's, along with Jerry Rice.
In fact, Irvin told a story to the players about an encounter he had with Rice at a Pro Bowl after the 1992 season.
"We had just beat those guys to get to the Super Bowl," Irvin said of Rice's 49ers. "And I saw him at the Pro Bowl a few weeks later and he was already working out. He was working so hard. I asked him what he was doing and he said he was getting ready for next season. I couldn't believe it. I thought you just took a few months off. But here's a guy . . . the best there is, and he's working out in February. But what I told (the rookies) here today is that he was right. He did it right. He was able to play 20 years in this league and he was doing it the right way. That's how it's supposed to be done. He was right about that and I was wrong."
Just like Irvin admitted he was wrong about waiting so long to visit the Hall of Fame.
"I had already put it in my mind that I wasn't going to walk the hall until it was my time to walk the hall," Irvin recalled again. "But when I finally went there and walked around saw the busts there and all the history, I was wrong. I was wrong. I gained such an appreciation of the game. I should've come here before I ever stepped foot on the football field. I should've come here and gotten an appreciation for this game.
"Hopefully, these guys will get an appreciation for all the work these guys have put in. We had a lot of guys who paved the way for us. And we should remember that. We should also remember that this game is bigger than us."
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