Exclusive with Jim Horigan of the Pro Football Hall of Fame

First, let me know how you got started with the Hall of Fame?

Well, I’ve been with the Hall of Fame now for 42 years in a variety of capacities. I started in 1977  – I got an opportunity and the time was right. I grew up on football – my father was a sportswriter and publicist with the AFL then the Buffalo Bills until 1977 when he passed away.

I had y first paid position when I was 13 working for the AFL working on clipbooks on the weekends. I was one of five people working there. The NFL wasn’t much bigger – it only had 12-to-15 people at the time.

I always had a historical bend – my father talked about and knew athletes that played in eras long before me. So I always had an appreciation for the history of the game. I visited the Hall of Fame two years before I got an interview and threw my hate in the ring. I told the person then that I’d do his job for nothing – little did I realize they’d hold me to that! when they hired me as the curator!