The numbers don’t lie.
All of the enshrinees from the 2021 Pro Football Hall of Fame class delivered great speeches on Sunday evening, but one of them stood out.
Many of the speeches are drawing great numbers on social media. Between YouTube and Facebook, Charles Woodson’s speech has more than 204,000 views. Calvin Johnson’s speech has more than 297,000 views.
Then there’s Peyton Manning.
Manning delivered a 9-minute, 24-second speech that is already going viral. At the time of this writing, Manning’s speech has already drawn more than 1.7 million views on the NFL’s social media pages.
It’s a speech that’s worth watching again:
Manning, a five-time NFL MVP and a two-time Super Bowl champion, started his speech with his signature sense of humor before a serious call to action to protect the future of the sport. The former quarterback got emotional when talking about his father, Archie, and his family.
Manning concluded his speech with a fitting final remark: “God bless you, and God bless football.”