KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Along the way to tripling his allotted 8-minute window to accept his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday in Canton, Ohio, Dick Vermeil must have affectionately thanked 100 or more people by name.
And no moment was more right and poignant than the way Vermeil honored his wife, Carol, as Vermeil, the 85-year-old with the vitality of a man 30 years younger, was closing his remarks.
“You noticed I didn’t get into talking about a lot of other things that would make me cry, OK? But when I talk about Carol Vermeil,” he said, his voice cracking, “it ain’t going to work.”
