Philly's finest on their big honor

Originally published July 25, 2008.

EXCEPTIONAL athletes are interested in winning championships and, if they're professionals, being paid at a rate that befits their station. But as they grow older they begin to contemplate their legacy. And few things more emphatically state that they've left a large imprint than certification as a Hall of Famer. Does getting the call to the hall mean the same thing to every individual who receives it? Does the wearing of that ring bring with it obligations over and above what was achieved in the competitive arena?

To better convey what Hall of Fame status means, several of Philadelphia's most accomplished stars weigh in as to the privileges and ramifications of membership in some very exclusive clubs. The panel includes former Penn and Eagles great Chuck Bednarik, who was inducted into both the college (1969) and pro (1967) football Halls of Fame; 76ers player and coach Billy Cunningham (1986); heavyweight champion Joe Frazier (1990); renowned Villanova middle-distance runner, 1968 Olympian and three-time NCAA mile champion Marty Liquori (1996), and Flyers legend Bill Barber (1990).

DN: Is it the responsibility of a superior athlete to conduct himself in a manner befitting a potential Hall of Famer, or is performance all that should matter?

Bednarik: You have to be a Hall of Famer off the field as well as on the field. But really, no one who plays the game should be getting into trouble. That's the way I always looked at it. You have to play tough and live honorably.

Cunningham: I personally think some off-the-court issues, such as gambling and steroids, should come into the picture for anybody with a chance to get there. I've heard stories about different Hall of Famers, and not only in basketball - guys who were racists, alcoholics or whatever. How many of those stories are true, I don't know, but anybody who's good enough to even be part of the discussion should try to adhere to a higher standard. There has to be more to it than just going out and putting up big numbers.

Frazier: I think I got the job done in the ring, but I wanted to be a good role model for my kids and other people. The Lord gave me the power and know-how to be that way. Everybody knows what I did in the ring, but you can be a champion all the way around.

Liquori: Halls of Fame are about performance. That's all that matters. Not everybody liked Ty Cobb, but should he be kept out of baseball's Hall of Fame because he rubbed too many people the wrong way? That said, drugs is a different matter. My personal opinion is that if you're caught even once using performance-enhancing drugs, you're out, finished, end of story.

Barber: In all sports, there's rules of the game. You have to abide by the rules of the game, on and off the ice or the field or whatever. That's the only way you should ever be recognized for any major event in your life, like the Hall of Fame. That's my opinion. It's not just what you did on the ice; what you did off the ice should also be taken into account.

DN: When did you begin to think about making it into the Hall of Fame?

Liquori: It's different in track and field. I'm not sure there even was a Hall of Fame when I was at Villanova. In an individual sport like track or tennis, you're thinking, 'Can I win Wimbledon? Can I win the Olympics? Can I win national championships? ' I wasn't even aware there was a track Hall of Fame until I was put in.

Barber: It really doesn't enter an athlete's mind until he sits back when he's retired from the sport as a player. Then it might enter your mind. If you're in a team sport, it's not fair to your teammates to be thinking about individual goals. It's your teammates who get you there, if you really stop to think about it.

Cunningham: I don't think many athletes, during the course of their careers, have it as one of their goals. I can truthfully say it wasn't for me when I was playing. My goal was to help my team win, to be mentally and physically prepared to play my best every night. But that's just me. Toward the end of my playing days, maybe a writer or some TV guy brought up the possibility of my making [the Hall of Fame]. I guess you think a little more about it then.

Bednarik: I played offense and defense in the NFL for 14 years. These guys today, its either offense or defense. As far as I'm concerned, it's a different game. But getting back to the question, you don't really think about going into the Hall of Fame. You just hope that someday you will.

Frazier: It's hard to think that far ahead. All I wanted to be was champion of the world. All the other good things that came later on for me came from being a good champion.

DN: The LPGA Tour has a predetermined point system for making its Hall of Fame. Would that format work in other sports?

Liquori: I like the concept. If there aren't specific parameters, it can boil down to a popularity contest. In my sport, I wouldn't want the media determining my worthiness. When I was running, the West Coast sports writers didn't like East Coast runners, and the opposite was also true. That LPGA thing is probably the fairest way to do it, although the standards ought to be set a little higher so that 25-year-olds aren't going in.

Frazier: It's always better when someone sees you and votes on what they see with their own eyes, rather than going by some point system. Boxing is man-on-man. Either you're moved by what you see or you aren't.

Cunningham: I don't think the LPGA system would work in basketball. Sometimes a player's worth to his team can't be measured just by statistics. You see it all the time. There are guys who are overrated because of statistics, other guys who are underrated because they contribute in ways that don't always show up in the box score.

Barber: The LPGA model might work in individual sports like golf and tennis. But a point system would be tough to implement in a team sport. Look, a baseball pitcher might win a lot of games because he spent his entire career with a good team that scores a lot of runs. Should he go in ahead of someone who might not have as good a record and played with mostly lousy teams?

Bednarik: I'm not sure how that would work in a team sport like football. Look, I played both ways in high school, in college, in the NFL. Nobody does that anymore. The game has changed drastically. My generation stayed on the field the entire game, so any [point] system they might have would be different for guys who did what I did and the guys who are playing today.

DN: Do you keep up with who is going into other Halls of Fame?

Cunningham: I wanted to take my grandson to Cooperstown. That's something I haven't done, but I'd love to do. When I was growing up in New York, the other sports were there, but the Hall of Fame everyone paid attention to was baseball's. I came along in the era of Willie, Mickey and The Duke, of Yogi Berra and Roy Campanella.

Frazier: Baseball, basketball, football, hockey . . . they're all team sports. Boxing is different because it's just you and the other guy. It's hard for me to compare what I did with people in those other sports.

Barber: I don't keep up with every sport, but I'm like everybody else. I get on the Internet, I read the newspaper. Mostly I follow hockey, but I do take notice when somebody gets named to the Hall of Fame, whether it's baseball or football or whatever.

Bednarik: My game, and other games, are different today. In my generation, it was more about family. You played because you loved the game, loved your teammates like brothers. This generation is altogether different, and if that's the way it is, that's fine.

Liquori: I'm not interested in professional sports at all. I don't follow baseball or pro football. I follow college sports. Hey, I live in a college town (Gainesville, Fla.).

DN: What went through your mind when it was announced you were a Hall of Famer?

Barber: Obviously, I was thrilled. One time before I came close, but didn't get in. A couple of reporters called, wanting to know how I felt. I said, 'Hey, that's OK. I'm a happy guy. I had a great career. ' But it went around again, and I did get in. You're honored and privileged to be a Hall of Famer. It's unbelievable. It's something that's with you the rest of your life.

Cunningham: It's overwhelming when it happens. Once I realized I was in, when I was at the ceremony with my family, I can't begin to describe the emotions that were coming out of me. It brought tears to my eyes.

Bednarik: Naturally, you're excited and honored. But I was born and raised Catholic. Even today, I go to Mass every single day. Everything good that's happened to me came from God. When I leave this earth, I know where I'm going. I'm going to the real Hall of Fame - heaven.

Liquori: It does mean something to be in the company of respected peers. It's validation that you were a competitor, and people appreciate that. But in track, if you don't do well in the Olympics [Liquori, running with a stress fracture in his foot as a 19-year-old Villanova freshman, finished 12th in the 1,500 meters in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics], to the general public you're not very good. That's how history judges you.

Frazier: I was so happy and proud that people believed I was one of the great ones. I just give thanks to the Lord above. *