By Joe Kay
CANTON, Ohio - Dermontti Dawson succeeded Mike Webster as the Pittsburgh Steelers' center. He's also followed him into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Dawson was the fifth of six players inducted into the hall on Saturday night, culminating a career known for versatility and consistency. He played in 170 consecutive games, reached the Pro Bowl seven straight seasons, and led the way for Jerome Bettis to become one of the NFL's top rushers.
Dawson chose high school football coach Steve Parker as is presenter. Parker went up to him in a school hallway during his junior year, put his arm around him and talked him into playing.
Chris Doleman, Cortez Kennedy, Curtis Martin, Willie Roaf and Jack Butler filled out the enshrinement class, which includes four linemen.
All the way through, the evening had a strong Pittsburgh flavor.
Hundreds of Steelers fans sat on the field and in the stands, waving yellow "Terrible Towels" to celebrate the city's starring role. Two of the new Hall of Famers played for the Steelers - Butler and Dawson. Doleman and Martin played for the University of Pittsburgh after growing up in Pennsylvania.
When it was time for Martin, a former Jets star, to finish the evening, Broadway Joe Namath couldn't help but notice the "J-E-T-S! J-E-T-S!" chants were getting overwhelmed.
"I hear a lot of big mouths from Pittsburgh out there," he told the crowd. "And justifiably - yes, yes!"
Martin soon had them dabbing their eyes.
He described growing up in a rough neighborhood in Pittsburgh, the son of an alcoholic father who would beat and torture his mother by setting her hair on fire or pressing burning cigarettes to her legs. His mother, Rochella, wiped tears from her eyes as he shared his story, occasionally pausing to collect himself.
"My greatest achievement in my life was healing my mother and nurturing my mother," Martin said.
She urged him to play football to stay out of trouble. Even when New England coach Bill Parcells decided to draft him out of Pitt, Martin wasn't sure he wanted to play. His pastor told him he could use football as a platform to do greater things.
"I played for a purpose bigger than the game because I knew that the love for the game just wasn't in my heart," Martin said.
He followed Parcells to the Jets and finished his career and the fourth-leading rusher in NFL history. Parcells became one of his biggest influences, and Martin chose him for the introduction on Saturday.
"He has tremendous compassion for his fellow man," Parcells said. "He is, I think, the poster child for what the NFL is supposed to be. You come into the league, maximize your abilities, you save your money, you make a smooth transition into society and then you pass all those things on to other people. That's what this guy has done."
The night that belonged to those who didn't have it easy.
Roaf was inducted first and set the tone. Standing in front of the large crowd in an unfamiliar role - getting attention for something good - he acknowledged feeling out of place.
"You know, it's an offensive lineman," Roaf said. "I didn't get singled out in front of a large audience very often, and when I did, it was usually by a referee who was singling me out by saying, 'Holding No. 77.'
"That's not going to happen today. And it wasn't too often when I played."
Roaf was one of the greatest players in Saints history, so good that he regularly made the Pro Bowl even though New Orleans had only one winning season in his nine years there. His induction gave the franchise something to celebrate after an offseason clouded by its bounty scandal.
Saints players sat in the last three rows of seats on the field, wearing black t-shirts with Roaf's No. 77 on the back. They're in town to play Arizona in the Hall of Fame preseason game tonight.
