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Former New Orleans Saints and KC Chiefs left tackle Willie Roaf will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this weekend. At 6:00 p.m. (Arrowhead Time) on Saturday night, Roaf's father will present him as the 273rd member of the Hall of Fame.
Roaf talked to the Saints media on a conference call and I plucked out one of his answers about deciding to keep playing in the NFL after New Orleans and come to the KC Chiefs. Check out the end where he acknowledges that playing on those Chiefs offensive lines -- some of the best lines ever -- is a big reason he's entering the Hall this weekend.
"I didn't want to end my career like that. I don't think that if I had come back off the knee injury and had played in Kansas City I would be in the Hall of Fame now. If you look at Richmond Webb's numbers in Miami, I think Richmond Webb went to seven Pro Bowls and had some real good years blocking for Dan Marino, [and] he hasn't made a finalists list yet. I think our credentials to this point, when I left New Orleans, I think he made the all-decade team, but I think they were pretty similar.
"I just wanted to comeback and really establish myself as one of the best tackles again. It was more when I got hurt and left, I still had some football left in me. Going to Kansas City and getting another chance gave me a spark. Like in 1997, I had a tough year. I had the radio show with Buddy D and the fans got on me. I needed to be motivated so I went to Duke after that in 1998, 1999, and 2000 and made sure Iwas in pretty good shape. In 2001, I went through the injury and I paid for myself to go back to Duke before training camp.
"Sometimes you go through adversity and it was a good thing. I needed that to get me motivated to want to play some more football. I think that is the reason I got in the Hall so early, because I did play on those real good lines in Kansas City."