The speeches made by NFL legends during the Pro Football Hall of Fame ceremony are almost always emotional. A time where special men reflect on the game of football and what they were able to bring to it. Sometimes, players can get a little long-winded -- but that didn't happen this year.
This year, 19 inductees were on the speech list for Saturday and Sunday. The high number was a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the 2020 ceremony to be postponed until Saturday. Due to the sheer number of speakers, a six-minute time limit was implemented for those delivering remarks. That's a far cry from the 39-minute, 18-second speech tight end Tony Gonzalez delivered in 2019! This bothered legendary quarterback Peyton Manning, who blasted the time limit as he stepped up to the podium.
"The 2021 induction class wants to thank those previous inductees who gave long-winded acceptance speeches," said Manning. "Forcing us to have a whopping six minutes to recap our football careers. I want to give a special thanks to my old rival Ray Lewis for being here tonight. Ray just finished giving his speech that he started in 2018."
Six minutes isn't enough to recap Peyton's career. 😂
— NFL (@NFL) August 9, 2021
📺: #PFHOF21 Enshrinement on @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/XJs8dLoCDo
If you recall, Lewis delivered a passionate 33-minute, 17-second speech in 2018.
Even with the time limit, Manning was still able to deliver an incredible speech that ended with him urging everyone to work to further the game of football.
Check out our blog for live updates from the 2021 Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony, followed by our biggest takeaways from Sunday night, here.
