ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 28, 1997 TAG: 9701280011
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-11 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW ORLEANS
SOURCE: Associated Press
An ebullient Don Shula had breakfast at Brennans on Saturday morning, then breezed into the Pro Football Hall of Fame a few hours later just as easily as you'd swallow a mouthful of bananas Foster. His selection came less than 12 months after he stepped down as head coach of the NFL's Miami Dolphins as the biggest winner in the history of the game.
Shula, 67, will be joined in the Hall's Class of 1997 by New York Giants owner Wellington Mara and two of the more dominant players of their time - Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster and cornerback Mike Haynes, who split his 14-year career between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders.
``I can't describe how I feel,'' Shula said shortly after the new inductees were announced at a noon news conference at Super Bowl XXXI media headquarters. ``People said it was a lock, but until it happens, you wait for the moment. I can't tell you how great I feel. It's an evaluation of your career. This is the ultimate recognition.''
Shula had 33 years as an NFL head coach, and stepped down - with a push from Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga - last year, despite getting his team into the playoffs in '95, for the 20th time. With 347 victories, he also is the only coach to go through a season undefeated. That feat was accomplished with the 17-0 Dolphins in 1972, a season that ended with a 14-7 victory over the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII.
Shula wore the diamond-studded ring from that season's title Saturday, while his wife, Mary Anne, videotaped her husband's news conference from a seat in the front row. Two of his former players were in the audience - linebacker Ted ``The Mad Stork'' Hendricks, who played for Shula with Baltimore, and defensive back Dick Anderson, a member of the '72 Miami team.
Shula was asked again if he could be tempted back to coaching. With his usual ``never say never'' response, he added, ``The longer you stay away, the harder the decision to come back, though Dick Vermeil may prove me wrong.... It would have to look like it was the only thing to do.''
What about doing it in Cleveland, not far from where he grew up?
``That's 1999, right?'' he said, smiling. Cleveland has been promised an NFL team by 1999. ``I haven't actually sought to return to coaching, and at this point, I don't intend to. ...You never say never. Only if I felt it was the right thing to do.''
This was also the right time for Mara's selection. The 80-year-old patriarch of the family that founded the Giants has spent his entire adult life in pro football and still is regarded as one of the game's most respected voices. His father, Timothy J. Mara, was the original owner and is a charter member of the Hall of Fame. They are the first father-son duo voted into the Hall.
Haynes was the Patriots' first-round pick in the 1976 draft and made an immediate impact as a cornerback and punt-returner, with eight interceptions his rookie year. He spent seven years with the Raiders, finished his career with 46 interceptions and made the Pro Bowl nine times.
Webster was the 125th player selected in the 1974 draft as a fifth-round choice, but played in more games (220) and more seasons (15) than any other player in Steelers history. He was a team captain for nine years, an All-Pro choice from 1978-83 and a member of four Steelers Super Bowl championship teams.
The four elected to the Hall by a panel of 35 media members were chosen from a list of 15 finalists. Pittsburgh wide receiver Lynn Swann, Miami center Dwight Stephenson and Green Bay guard Jerry Kramer, a candidate selected by a special old-timers committee, made the cut to seven finalists. Swann and Stephenson will be automatic finalists next year, and Kramer could be nominated again by the same committee in any year.
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Shulaby CNB