It was a no-brainer. With Thursday being a day off work for me and a day without college classes for my son Riley, we decided to drive to Atlanta to watch the Falcons play that night.
Somewhere along the way of looking online for tickets, he suggested we also visit the new College Football Hall of Fame. It's just a couple of blocks from the Georgia Dome, and what self-respecting Southern male wouldn't want to spend a day, especially a weekday, filled with football?
Whether shelling peanuts on a lazy summer night at a baseball park, fist bumping after a dunk that rattles the rim and brings everyone in the arena to their feet or celebrating a touchdown by your favorite team, sports always has been a great bond for fathers and sons. And while there's usually a game of some kind on television in our house, for Riley and me, our shared passion always has been football.
Enthusiasm for the game -- maybe even too much, according to my blood pressure sometimes -- is the family heirloom I've passed down to him.
So the idea of spending the day checking out college football's great players and teams, then ending it with a Falcons game, was an easy call.
Once we arrived at the Hall of Fame, within the first few steps inside the building, there's an overwhelmingly large wall decorated with the helmets of 768 college teams from every level of the game. Next to the helmet display is a row of computers where fans can register their name and select their favorite team. As fans enter each wing or the many interactive displays, a screen welcomes you by name and that team's logo.
The folks who work in the Hall of Fame couldn't have been friendlier or more helpful in making sure we had all the information for a great experience. The first stop we made was to the second-floor theater for a 10-minute video shown on a large, curved screen with surround sound so loud it makes you feel like you're on the sideline during the highlights. Easily the most jaw-dropping scene during that video comes when the camera follows players onto the field before the Army/Navy game, then pans skyward to show four large helicopters flying over the field. The sight and thunderous sound of that flyover made several in the theater offer an awe-inspired, "Wow!"
There are dozens of interactive stations, including a television stage and desk to record a "College Gameday" segment, a radio booth where you can call some classic plays, a rivalry wing with video highlights and great quotes from coaches and players who were part of those games as well as a 30-yard turf field where fans can run pass routes, throw footballs at targets, even try field goals from any distance up to 40 yards away.
On one screen, former Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning, wearing an orange golf shirt with a white power "T," discusses everything from his best in-huddle memories to how important it is for players to talk to the media. There's even a recruiting questionnaire filled out in Manning's sloppy high school penmanship, where he lists his top five favorite schools he's considering. Manning filled out the paperwork during his junior year of high school and at that time didn't have Tennessee listed among the schools he was interested in.
There are of course photos and info charts detailing the history of the game, ranging from the first game played -- in 1869 between Rutgers and Princeton in New Brunswick, N.J. -- with a soccer-style round ball, a field that was 120 yards and 25 players on each side -- to a photo from 1941 when the penalty flag was introduced.
Among the memorable quotes in the rivalry wing are simple explanations of the intensity, like former Texas coach Darrell Royal saying of the Oklahoma game, "It is no place for the timid," and a telegram from Gen. Douglas MacArthur after Army's 1944 win over Navy that reads, "The greatest of all Army teams. Stop. We have stopped the war to celebrate your magnificent success."
From the multimillion-dollar FBS programs to Mount Union's 11 Division III national titles, there isn't much about the history and memories from the game that's not included within the three-story building.
And it's a great way to make a few more personal memories for those of us who love the game.
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293.