Dressed to the nines, surrounded by family and friends at a hotel in Atlanta, Tom Flores waited for the knock.
When he’d open the door, David Baker, the unmistakably large president and CEO of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, would welcome him to Canton, Ohio, letting him know that he’d forever be immortalized as one of the game’s greats. Then, that night, he’d be formally introduced as an inductee of the class of 2019 and be welcomed with long-overdue applause from the game’s brightest stars at the NFL Honors ceremony. He’d spend the next day watching Super Bowl LIII while shaking hands, overwhelmed by the sheer number of old friends eager to congratulate him in person.