Parkinson’s Disease Adds Urgency to Football Great’s Quest for Hall of Fame

For eight seasons, Larry Brown made a living running through defenders for Washington’s NFL franchise, long before the team was renamed the Commanders. Now at age 78, the former league MVP feels as though he is racing against something far more formidable than an opposing defense: he’s racing against time.The Washington Redskins’ star running back in the 1970s, Mr. Brown recently revealed to The New York Sun that he has Parkinson’s disease, a diagnosis that has added urgency to his long-running pursuit of football’s ultimate recognition: induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.“I don’t have the tremors,” he said. “Just a lot of movement problems. I’ve fallen about 20 times. Fortunately, I haven’t hurt myself. I guess those falls playing football helped build up my muscles to help me from getting hurt, yet.”Mr. Brown took plenty of hits and falls during his career at Washington where he went from an eighth-round draft pick by then-coach Vince Lombardi to being named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in 1972.Considered undersized at 5-foot-11 and 195 pounds, he excelled in an era when the league’s brutal style of play wasn’t restrained by the safety protections afforded to players today. An all-purpose back who seldom left the field, he generated 5,875 rushing and 2,485 receiving yards during his career, scoring 55 touchdowns.He was named the league’s MVP in 1972 when he gained 1,216 yards in 12 regular-season games and helped lead the Redskins to Super Bowl VII where the team lost to the Miami Dolphins, the only team in NFL history to have a perfect season.Mr. Brown said his all-around game should carry particular weight in Hall of Fame discussions.“There’s less importance placed on the running back these days like there was back then,” Mr. Brown said. “I could block, I could run, I could catch passes. A lot of running backs now can only run or catch passes. Most of them can’t block. But I was a complete running back, otherwise Vince Lombardi would have never started me.”Today, he spends much of time with the help of a caregiver, making sure he takes medication he has little faith in. Parkinson’s is a neurodegenerative disorder that can cause tremors, movement issues, depression and sleep issues, according to Parkinson.org. “I’m getting medications shoved down my throat,” Mr. Brown said. “But to me the medications aren’t doing a damn thing. But what can I say?”Currently residing in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Mr. Brown said he plans to visit Duke University Medical Center to consult with doctors about his condition. “I’ve been told there are some great doctors up there,” he said. “The doctors at university hospitals are continuously learning. Hopefully, they’ll have some good news for me.”In the meantime, Mr. Brown isn’t giving up his campaign for induction into the Hall of Fame, although the odds of him getting a gold jacket are becoming more distant.The sports world went apoplectic when Bill Belichick, a winner of six Super Bowls as head coach of the New England Patriots, didn’t garner enough votes to make the Class of 2026 Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.The controversy exposed a selection process where coaches, contributors, and players of a different era, called “Seniors,” are competing against players from the “Modern Era” for a limited number of votes.A nine-person Senior Blue-Ribbon Committee sifts through the credentials of about 162 senior nominees and ultimately names three finalists to be considered. The Coaches Committee selects one finalist as does the Contributors Committee forming what’s called the Group of Five.The three senior finalists this year were quarterback Ken Anderson of the Cincinnati Bengals; fullback Roger Craig, a long-time San Francisco 49ers star; and defensive end L.C. Greenwood, a member of Pittsburgh’s “steel curtain” defense. Mr. Belichick was the coach finalist, while New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft was the Contributor finalist. Those five names joined the pool of Modern Era finalists and were presented together for the full 50-member full selection committee. Each selector has up to three votes and a finalist gains induction by drawing a minimum of 40 votes.Mr. Craig, who retired in 1993 and became Hall eligible in 1999, was the only finalist from the Group of Five to receive enough votes to be part of the Professional Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026, announced during Super Bowl week last February.Mr. Craig, who spent 20 years in the Modern Era window without induction and another eight years in the Seniors pool, will be inducted along with New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, Carolina Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly, and Indianapolis Colts placekicker Adam Vinateri on August 8 in Canton, Ohio.Mr. Brown remained on the seniors eligibility list when it was whittled down from the original 162 to 52, but did not make the group of finalists. Still, he plans to submit his credentials again for consideration for the Class of 2027 because, he said, he deserves it.“In 1972, they made me the Most Valuable Player,” Mr. Brown said. “That should speak for something. That’s the only real claim to fame that they’ve given me. But there’s a lot of people that are Most Valuable Players that are not in the Hall either.”He said he’s grateful for the support he receives from the Commanders, who annually submit letters detailing Mr. Brown’s gridiron accomplishments. “They’ve done that for me every year,” he said. “If the home team doesn’t support you, you have no chance.”Mr. Brown said he hopes Mr. Craig’s induction indicates the contributions of running backs from an earlier era are not forgotten in the modern era of pass-oriented offenses. “There seems to be less importance placed on the running back today like there was back then,” he said. “I just want to be recognized for how I played the game, based on my talent and my contributions.”Since retiring from football, he has endured two knee surgeries, a back surgery and a case of gout in his wrist that ended his golfing days. It’s Parkinson’s, however, that gives him concern that he may not be around if his name is ever called for Canton.“I don’t want to get in after I pass,” he said. “That’s what happens sometimes. You pass and it seems like it’s ‘Oops, we made a mistake,’ and try to correct it. I know I should be in there. I should have been in the Hall a long time ago based on my accomplishments. We’ll see.”

Parkinson’s Disease Adds Urgency to Football Great’s Quest for Hall of Fame

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