Roaf was a bad, bad man. (AP)

When Willie Roaf turned pro in 1993, it was the perfect time for a hulking, 6'5, 300-pound, road-grading behemoth of an offensive tackle to enter the NFL. The importance placed on high-quality offensive linemen (see: Michael Lewis' novel) was rising and over the next 13 years, Roaf would be one of the best in the NFL.

2012 Pro Football Hall of Fame

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Drafted by New Orleans with the eighth overall pick in the 1993 NFL Draft, Roaf spent nine seasons with the Saints, moving to left tackle in his second season in the Bayou. He made the Pro Bowl and was named an All-Pro in his second year after making the switch, and that would kick off a stretch of seven-straight years where Roaf made the Pro Bowl.

In that time, Roaf averaged 15 games a year, and made one more All-Pro team (in 1995). After a knee injury cut his 2001 season short, Roaf was dealt to the Chiefs, but wasn't even close to being done. He anchored one of the more dominant lines in football, a unit that allowed Priest Holmes to explode for 1,615 yards in 2002 and a then-record 27 rushing touchdowns in 2004. Following Holmes was Larry Johnson, who ran for 1,750 yards in 2005, Roaf's final season.

Roaf joins a workman-like draft class, primarily consisting of men who did the dirty work in the trenches. And that's absolutely fitting for a guy who went by the nickname "Nasty."

"A very down-to-earth class. Not a lot of egos involved," Roaf said. "We all are happy about what we achieved, but [they're] good guys and good players to go in with."

Measuring the quality of an offensive lineman, from a statistical standpoint, isn't an easy thing. There's games played and ... well, yeah, there's not much more. But with Roaf, there wasn't really ever a question about his greatness. He dominated from the get-go and ended up on two different All-Decades teams (the 90's and the 2000's) because of his mauling style in the trenches.

But Dr. Clifton Roaf, Willie's father and Canton presenter, sees a different side of the former All-Pro. The soft side that doesn't mesh with the nickname Nasty.

"He was always a good guy," Clifton said. "You could have a joke on him. He would always laugh and go along. He was a very, very good child. He would listen. He's the type of person who responds to positiveness. If you praise him, then he is motivated to try to do better. He doesn't respond well when he's criticized. I guess that's a sensitivity in him. But he basically is just a good, free-hearted man.

"He's been so good in helping me and other family members. I just love him to death. He's just a solid, easy-going human being."

That may be true off the field, but it was Roaf's dominance on the field -- especially against high-level competition, that made him such a renowned force in the NFL.

"I've never been around a lineman that could physically dominate another good NFL defensive lineman or linebacker in the league," Dick Vermeil, Roaf's coach with the Chiefs, said. "He could dominate an All-Pro, reducing him to the level of an average player. His explosive moves out of his stance have never been equaled by anyone. His ability to get out into the perimeter with speed and grace and then block a moving target in space was spectacular."

That Roaf has the nickname of Nasty because of his brutal physical abilities on the offensive line while also drawing a compliment from a former coach of having "grace" isn't just hilarious. It's also accurate, and it's why Roaf, one of the all-time great linemen in the history of the game, finds his way into Canton on Saturday.


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