Feb. 27, 1964 - Seven new members of the professional football Hall of Fame were announced today in Canton, Ohio. They join the 17 charter members installed last year in Canton, where the National Football League was founded in 1920. Six players from the 1920s and 1930s and Art Rooney, founder and owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, will be inducted formally on Sept. 8 in ceremonies preceding the annual Hall of Fame game. This year’s game will be played between the Steelers and the Baltimore Colts.
All seven of the new members are living and are expected to participate in the ceremonies in September. Four linemen, George Trafton, a center; Ed Healy and Roy Link Lyman, tackles; and August Mike Michaelske, a guard, were named along with two backs, Clarke Hinkle, and Jimmy Conzelman.
Hinkle (pictured left), 5-11 and weighing 205, played with a fury that invited comparison with baseball’s Ty Cobb. Known as one of the toughest players in the era of iron man football, Hinkle played for the Packers from 1932 to 1941 and held the all-time NFL records for rushing yardage and carries when his career ended. An all-pro fullback four times, Hinkle also stood out as a field-goal kicker and starred on defense.
Conzelman’s selection posed a problem. The former coach of the Providence Steamrollers, Detroit Lions, and Chicago Cardinals is a member of the 14-man board of newsmen and officials who pick the new members. Conzelman was elected in a parliamentary procedure whereby his name was linked with Rooney’s, and the newspapermen suddenly called for a voice vote. Conzelman, who had been protesting his election, was unable to raise a dissenting voice before the motion was carried by acclamation.
Rooney was the only new member who did not play organized pro football. He saw semipro action before he founded the Steelers in 1933.
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