CANTON, Ohio (AP) — Revis Island has a new home in “Football Heaven.”
After Joe Klecko and Fireman Ed got the green-clad crowd roaring “J-E-T-S! Jets! Jets! Jets!” four-time All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis took his spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday.
“It’s an honor to be here, to stand among the greats,” the soft-spoken Revis said.
A first-ballot inductee, Revis was so dominant that opposing quarterbacks stopped throwing the ball his way.
He won a Super Bowl in his only season with the New England Patriots before returning home to New York and finished his career with seven Pro Bowl selections.
“To the Jets fans, for all the boos and cheers when I was drafted 14th overall to burning my jersey when I signed with the Patriots to now being here in Canton, I guess it’s safe to say we’ve been through a lot together,” Revis said. “You expected great things out of me every single game and I accepted the challenge. Thank you for believing in me and supporting me every step of the way. You will always have a place to stay on Revis Island.”
Klecko, a fan favorite in New York, also was among nine members of the Class of 2023 that included local hero Joe Thomas who were enshrined during a four-hour ceremony at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.
Klecko went from working at a trucking company and making a semipro team as an unpaid player with a fake name to earning a scholarship to play at Temple.
Drafted in the sixth round in 1977, the hard-nosed, tough guy from a gritty town in Pennsylvania is the only player in NFL history to be selected to the Pro Bowl at three positions on the defensive line: end, tackle and nose tackle.
Klecko was the heart of the dominant “New York Sack Exchange” defensive line in the 1980s along with Mark Gastineau, Marty Lyons and Abdul Salaam.
“I pray that I treated everybody with respect,” Klecko said. “I want to be remembered as a player who gave it his all. I wanted to win every down, every battle. I always felt that if you’re not mad at yourself if you lose one battle, you don’t belong on the field.”
An underwhelming crowd filled with mostly Jets and Browns fans came to see Revis, Klecko and Thomas during a week of festivities that included Cleveland’s 21-16 victory over New York in the NFL preseason opener on Thursday.
Thomas got the biggest ovation from hometown fans wearing orange-and-brown No. 73 jerseys. His speech had the “Dawg Pound” barking a few times.
The six-time All-Pro left tackle played a record 10,363 consecutive snaps before torn triceps ended the streak and his career in 2017.
“That number 10,363 is special to me, and not just because it’s an NFL record, but because it shows that I was there for my brothers 10,363 times in a row,” Thomas said. “Loyalty, consistency, something bigger than yourself, showing up for someone else.”
Ronde Barber, a three-time All-Pro who spent all 16 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was the third cornerback inducted in this class.
