Hall of Fame Induction Quotes

My goal had been to win a championship, work toward the Hall of Fame, have my jersey retired by the team and I'd go in as a lifelong New York Giant, but I'm now resigned to the fact that this won't happen.

To be named as one of the finalists for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's Class of 2010 on Friday was a special moment for me. As a player, it's something that you dream about. It's an honor that you have to earn based on your career and the respect from your peers around you.

I grew up as a sports fan, and I know that a hall of fame is very different than an award for being the best of the year. It's a nod to the longevity of our accomplishment.

I'm a Hall of Famer, and I can go outside today and go to a restaurant or wherever, and somebody will come up to me and say, 'Practice? We talkin' 'bout practice?' Man, I am a Hall of Famer, and that's all you can think about?

How lucky have we been that the face of baseball for the past two decades, through ups and downs, has been Derek Jeter.

George Steinbrenner forever changed baseball and hopefully someday we will see him honored in baseball's Hall of Fame as one of the great figures in the history of sports.

Darryl Strawberry has been voted to the Hall of Fame five years in a row.

I was a starter and did some good things there, and then I got a chance to prove myself as a closer. Because of that opportunity, I was blessed with the honor of being elected to the Hall of Fame.

I have a great T-shirt that I received at the New Jersey Hall of Fame when I was inducted. It says - it makes me choke up - it says, 'I'm a Jersey tomato'... I am. I am a Jersey girl and proud of it.

Belichick, I recognize the fact this is a Hall of Fame coach. He'll go down in history as maybe the greatest football coach in the history of this game, or going to be close to it.

In terms of professionally what I want to do, I want to play 15-plus more years, get to the Hall of Fame, and win a lot of championships and all that. I'd love to be the owner of a team one day. But it's way bigger than that. For me, my vision is how can I affect somebody positively every day? When you focus on other people, somehow good things happen to you. I think that's my goal. That's my vision.

Prince presented us at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

I don't believe being a Hall of Famer is based on individual accolades. I think winning has a lot to do with it. But perhaps more than that, you simply have to show that you are the best or among the best at what you do.

People always talk about first-ballot Hall of Famer and all that stuff, but it doesn't really make a difference. Once you get in there, you're a Hall of Famer. It doesn't matter if you get in on the first, second or third ballot. It's the same thing.

There's a compelling reason why I belong in the Hall of Fame, but I understand the argument against me. My career didn't go like most, and I'm 100 percent fine with that because that's what resonates with people.

I think sometimes Hall of Famers might get labeled as guys who aren't suited for a coaching job or to be back at the Major League level.

I'm going to be an MVP. I'm going to be Defensive Player of the Year. Not just once, multiple times... And the rings part is the biggest one for me. And the Hall of Fame part.

Part of me feels it's better we're not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

It's absurd for anybody to look around and hear the acts and artists who cite us as an inspiration, and then tell me that we're not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

It's pretty simple, the way I look at it. I became a Hall of Famer here (in New York), with my numbers here and what I've done here, and hopefully three-hundred will be another big part of that. When (former Red Sox general manager Dan) Duquette said that I was done, if I'd have taken his advice and went home, I wouldn't have been a Hall of Famer. So it's a no-brainer. It's definitely pretty easy. Reggie (Jackson) spent five years here, and this will be five for me.

Being in the same sentence as Bob Gibson, that's incredible.

I think Ray Guy and John Madden for sure should be in the Hall of Fame and Cliff Branch should be as well.

It's an honor to be brought into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame and I'm going to show up if I'm invited, you know?!

I was always a Favre fan. I was born in Wisconsin, and my whole family was Packers fans, so I grew up watching him.

I didn't go into the Hall of Fame until I was a Hall of Famer. Three times I had been there, I never stepped foot inside.