The six owners who serve as members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Board of Trustees have not yet spoken out against the policy that denies the family of deceased inductees the gold jacket and ring. One other owner has made his views known, clearly and unequivocally.
“No way I should have my dad’s ring and Bruce Allen doesn’t have his dad’s,” Davis told Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com, referring to Al Davis (who was inducted during his lifetime) and George Allen (who was inducted posthumously). “No way I should have my dad’s ring and Junior Seau’s family doesn’t have his. Same with Dick Stanfel’s family, and Kenny [Stabler’s] family. The guys earned it and their families should get to enjoy it. This is an injustice that has to be rectified.”
Ken Stabler’s daughter, Kendra Stabler-Moyes, told Gutierrez that Hall of Fame President David Baker explained the policy that way to Stabler’s girlfriend, Kim Ross-Bush.
“She was told the Hall did not want families fighting over it or selling it,” Stabler-Moyes said. “That is the biggest cop-out -- a poor excuse. It’s nobody’s business what families do behind closed doors.”
The risk that the jacket or ring will be sold applies whenever any Hall of Famer dies. The estate laws determine how the property of the deceased is distributed, and the items can be sold by the Hall of Famer or his family members, during his lifetime or after it.
