Q&A With Class of 2007 Pro Football Hall of Famer Roger Wehrli
Blogging the National Football League, Blogging the NFL
I participated in a national conference call with Class of 2007 Hall of Famer Roger Wehrli today. Roger was a seven-time Pro Bowler with the St. Louis Cardinals and he was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1970s. Here’s our part of the conference call:
DAVID: Can you even describe the feeling you get when you think about being a part of the Hall of Fame?
ROGER: (pause) Well, not really. I mean, it’s really kind of beyond words or beyond explanation. It’s just wonderful and I’m proud to be able to call myself a Hall of Famer, to know that I’m in there with the guys that were heroes to me when I was growing up, heroes even when I was playing. I see the guys that I played against that are already in there. So, you know, it just makes me feel humble, thankful and proud all in the same sentence. It’s just a great feeling to be with those guys.
DAVID: Did you ever think in terms of the Hall of Fame when you were playing?
ROGER: No, I don’t think it even ‑‑ I can’t even remember a time that it really entered my mind. After I retired, I went years when being introduced at banquets they’d say, “Future-Hall-of-Famer.” As the years went on it got to be “Should-be-Hall-of-Famer” whenever I was introduced at a function or banquet. It was my 20th year of eligibility. I pretty much thought it had passed me by. When you’re nominated each year, especially when you make it to the final stage, it obviously puts a sense of hope in your mind. You think about the possibility. It had reached a point where I really thought I probably wouldn’t make it. All of a sudden in that last year things went right and I got voted in.
DAVID: How did you deal with the waiting and wondering?
ROGER: It’s just something that — when I first got in that situation, I was thinking that maybe it might happen. As the years go by, I certainly still had the hope in my mind, but I just kind of dealt with it like it was out of my control. I played on the field, left everything out there that I could, and hopefully it was enough. If it was, great. If not, well, I’m satisfied with what I did.
DAVID: Was it important to you to play all 14 of your NFL seasons with the same team?
ROGER: Well, yeah, it was very fortunate. I feel very fortunate to have been able to do that. Very few players are able to say that. Actually fewer now than in the years that I played. There wasn’t quite as much movement back then as far as players. There was no free agency to speak of. Well, really none. They didn’t have the salary cap situation. There wasn’t really any bargaining from one team to another because you just didn’t have that free agency aspect of the game. You know, all the factors that come into play now where players, even though they wanted to stay with the same team, ended up getting moved or traded, those situations weren’t in existence back then. A few more players did play longer with the same team I think. It was great for me because I am a Missouri native and played at the University of Missouri. It enabled my parents, who live in Missouri, to come to most all the games, especially the home games. It was just nice to be able to stay in my home state.
DAVID: What was the highlight of your playing days?
ROGER: I think the highlight was the ‘74, ‘75, and ‘76 years. You have to look at those teams we had, the players that we had on those teams, the joy that we had of winning 10 games, 11 games I think three years in a row.
Tags: Pro Football HOF, roger-wehrliRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Pro Football HOF
1 opinion for Q&A With Class of 2007 Pro Football Hall of Famer Roger Wehrli
Pro Football Hall of Fame: Class of 2007
Aug 5, 2007 at 9:04 pm
[…] who described Roger as having “the highest morals of anyone I’ve ever met.” I know from having interviewed Roger that he’s a man of few words — soft-spoken and kind — and his acceptance speech […]
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: