OK, so I'm biased. But who besides one with a bias would nominate someone, no matter how deserving, for the highest honor associated with the greatest game in the world, induction into the Pro Football Hall Of Fame?
Ole Haugsrud was my uncle and one heck of a nice guy. Proof of his tremendous generosity and genuine selflessness is easy enough to find for anyone who is interested to look, but as the saying goes, "Nice guys finish last."
And that is where we stand today. One of the greatest of those early giants on whose shoulders were built the Hall of Fame and, indeed, the National Football League itself, is one of the last to be recognized for the important contributions made to the sport he loved so much.
When the National Football League was foundering, he was there.
And when it was time for it to expand, he was there.
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When the Hall of Fame was in its infancy, he was there.
And while it grew, he was there.
And he was there for the rest of his life -- never looking for accolades, never seeking the limelight.
We are now at the point where Ole Haugsrud's tireless work and unending promotion for the league and the Hall of Fame is almost a lost memory. But as late in the game as it is, it is not yet too late for that miracle play, that come-from-behind rally, that incredible last-second score as the clock ticks down, bringing sweet victory and allowing Ole Haugsrud to join his contemporaries, his friends, his fellow pioneers, Ernie Nevers, George Halas, and Johnny "Blood" McNally among them, in that mighty hall of legends.
As the push is made to turn football into an international sport, let us look for examples to our neighbors around the world, who are most keenly appreciative of the importance of never forgetting where we came from and to whom a debt is owed. And isn't that, too, what the Pro Football Hall Of Fame is about? Not allowing time to dim the hard work and the glories of the past, but rather to provide that special place where children 25, 50, even 100 years later can walk though those hallowed doors and learn for themselves just what it took and who it took to make the game as great as it is?
Ole Haugsrud was one of those rare individuals who made it happen.
Let him not be forgotten.
John Peterman of Duluth is the nephew of Ole Haugsrud, owner of the National Football League's Duluth Eskimos in the 1920s and a founder of the league's Minnesota Vikings in the 1960s. Haugsrud is a nominee this year for induction in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
