The NFL may not care, but I’m not sure the Pro Football Hall of Fame had much choice.
The daughter of the late Junior Seau will be able to speak live during the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony after the Hall had a change of heart per Fox Sports.
Sydney will be given the chance to participate in an on-stage interview conducted after the unveiling of Seau’s bust. The Hall also has invited Sydney and Seau’s three sons to unveil his bust on stage. Normally, the unveiling is only done by the presenter and enshrinee.
The Hall will continue to uphold its rule calling for only a video presentation of a posthumous inductee that includes the presenter’s speech. However, the Hall has taped a 6 1/2-minute highlight video of Seau’s 20-year NFL career that includes comments from Sydney. The normal highlight video lasts three minutes.
Sydney also will be participating in the Thursday night “Gold Jacket” ceremony that marks the first major Hall event of the week. She will be given the chance to make remarks during the NFL Network telecast.
There was initial confusion from the Seau family about whether Sydney was initially told by the Hall that she could deliver the induction speech for her father during the ceremony. Reports surfaced that Sydney Seau was being silenced as punishment for the Seau family filing a lawsuit against the league.