Honor the Heroes of the Game, Preserve its History, Promote its Values & Celebrate Excellence EVERYWHERE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
07/20/15
@ProFootballHOF
Contact:
Pete Fierle, Vice President of Communications & Special Assistant to the President
[email protected]; 330-588-3622
“FIRST BALL” TO KICK OFF HALL OF FAME
WEEKEND AND ROAD TO SUPER BOWL 50
2,000 CHILDREN TO HAND OFF FIRST SUPER BOWL HIGH SCHOOL
HONOR ROLL WILSON GOLDEN FOOTBALL TO HALL OF FAME
CANTON, OHIO – The National Football League, Pro Football Hall of Fame and
Gold Jackets Elvin Bethea, Joe DeLamielleure, James Lofton, and Lynn
Swann will celebrate the kickoff to the 2015 Hall of Fame Enshrinement Weekend
and the road to Super Bowl 50 on Thursday, Aug. 6 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. in
Canton Ohio.
For the past 15 years, Hall of Fame Weekend has started with an event called “First
Play” as 2,000 children form a human chain and pass a football along a three-mile
route from the location in downtown Canton where the NFL was founded to the Pro
Football Hall of Fame.
To commemorate the year-long celebration of Super Bowl 50, this year’s event is
taking on the name “First Ball.” The special event will surround the celebration of
Super Bowl 50 with the first Super Bowl High School Honor Roll Wilson Golden
Football handed out. The Super Bowl High School Honor Roll recognizes the high
schools and communities that have contributed to Super Bowl history. This season,
the high schools of every head coach or player to have appeared in a Super Bowl
will receive a commemorative golden football produced by Wilson.
Children on Aug. 6 will pass the first golden football along the streets of Canton
until it reaches Swann on the front steps of the Hall. Swann, the Most Valuable
Player of Super Bowl X, will place the football on exhibit inside the Hall of Fame
where it will be displayed throughout the 2015 NFL season.
The “First Ball” event will be filmed by NFL Films and featured across CBS network’s
various platforms during the upcoming NFL season. Other media outlets will also be
in attendance covering the 2015 Enshrinement Weekend.
COMMITMENT • INTEGRITY • COURAGE • RESPECT • EXCELLENCE
Registration Information
“First Ball” participants will receive a T-shirt (while supplies last), free admission to
the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Thursday, Aug. 6 and lunch on the Hall of Fame
grounds courtesy of the Hall of Fame’s new presenting sponsor AVI Foodsystems.
Participating youth groups and individuals must include adequate adult
supervision. Each group is asked to provide one adult per 10 children.
Fans or youth groups interested in participating in the free “First Ball” event may
register by contacting the Pro Football Hall of Fame
at [email protected].
For more information on “First Ball” and other Pro Football Hall of Fame
Enshrinement Weekend events visit
ProFootballHOF.com/enshrinement/festivalschedule.aspx.
#PFHOF15
COMMITMENT • INTEGRITY • COURAGE • RESPECT • EXCELLENCE