CANTON, Ohio
Show me someone who doubts the Washington Redskins are the most valuable NFL franchise, and I'll show you someone who wasn't at the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday.
It was as if there was a checkpoint on the road in: Show your ticket and your Redskins jersey, T-shirt or visor for admission.
The weekend's events - including tonight's Redskins-Colts exhibition - already had a vintage Redskins flavor with receiver Art Monk, cornerback Darrell Green and former assistant coach Emmitt Thomas among the six new inductees.
The burgundy-and-gold ocean suddenly flooding this pocket of Ohio made that flavor overpowering.
On Saturday afternoon, Redskins fans populated the long waiting lines that snaked into the Hall, a ticketed luncheon and the induction at Fawcett Stadium next door.
They jockeyed elbow to hip, herds of them, through the Hall's corridors and display areas, erupting now and again in a 'Hail to the Redskins' bellow.
Later, they turned the 31/2-hour evening ceremony into an open-air Skins fest, a Woodstock, a miniature Fed-Ex Field brimming with some 17,000 people - about 95 percent of them besotted faithful.
Pat and Ray Waters came from Chesapeake , drawn by a familial force.
Pat Waters promised her late father she'd come if Monk, their favorite player, ever got into Canton. And as she promised, she wore the white Art Monk jersey she'd once given her dad, who then gave it back to her before he died 13 years ago.
'This means a lot to me because of my dad,' said Pat Waters, 55, who hopes to snare Monk's autograph today and to tell him her story.
'He's why I'm a Redskins fan. Everything we've done this weekend - this, the parade this morning - I feel like he's smiling down.'
Carl and Mattie McNeil, who came from Virginia Beach, were smiling Saturday. Finally.
They were ready seven years ago when Monk - their favorite, too - was first rejected for induction. Every year Monk waited, they waited. When his name was called in February, the McNeils knew where they had to be the first weekend in August.
'This is a dream come true for me,' said Carl McNeil, 65, a retired Hampton Roads Transit driver. 'And for Art Monk to go in with a teammate like Darrell Green, that's really special.
'Looking around, you would think only Redskins are going into the Hall of Fame. That's a testament to Art Monk and Darrell Green.'
True, Fred Dean (Chargers, 49ers), Gary Zimmerman (Vikings, Broncos) and Andre Tippett (Patriots) also went in. In the context of the day, however, their honor was but a ripple in a lake.
It was the ex-Redskins who rattled the place. Coach Joe Gibbs' appearance on stage drew a standing ovation.
Monk, the great, understated receiver who closed the show, drew two minutes of applause before he spoke, the acknowledgement of the long, frustrating wait for his introduction.
Before him, the always loquacious Green tested the goodwill from his 20-year career by rambling 25 minutes, thanking pretty much everybody he's ever known. At the end, Green proclaimed himself ideally suited for life as a Hall of Famer, on religious grounds.
'I belong here. I bee-long here,' Green said, his voice rising. 'Because I know what to do with God's fame ... with God's visibility, with God's influence. To Jesus be the glory!'
Jason and Kathryn Foster drove from the Whaleyville section of Suffolk to feel the power.
No big deal there; Jason Foster, 34, last year flew home from a work assignment in Hawaii on a Friday to attend the Redskins Beach Blitz in Virginia Beach. He was back at work in Hawaii on Monday morning.
Nine hours to Canton is a jog around the block.
Matthew Gavin totally understands. The Old Dominion senior from Arlington turns 21 in three weeks. His aunt and fellow Redskins nut, Ann Marie Moses, paid for his trip, obviously figuring which would be more memorable: a Best Buy card or this.
'This is huge,' Gavin said. 'Darrell Green was my favorite player growing up. It's awesome. And I've never seen so many Redskins fans other than at a game.'
Carl and Mattie McNeil, to name two, plan to be back in a year.
Their personal friend, Norfolk native Bruce Smith, the NFL's all-time sack leader, is eligible for induction into the Hall next August.
Smith is also a former Redskin, but he spent 15 of his 19 seasons with the Buffalo Bills.
Those fans have an impressive act to follow.
Tom Robinson, (757) 446-2518, tom.robinson@pilotonline.com
CAPTION(S):
Mark Duncan | the associated press
Former Redskins cornerback Darrell Green, left, uncovers his Hall of Fame bronze bust Saturday with help from his son Jared. Mark Duncan | the associated press
Former Washington Redskins wide receiver Art Monk speaks at the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony Saturday. Scott Heckel | The repository | the associated press
Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs welcomes Art Monk and Darrell Green at the enshrinees dinner Friday in Canton, Ohio. Kiichiro Sato | the associated press
Skins fans make their presence known during Saturday's events.
