"Pitt rushing legend enshrined in Pro Football Hall of Fame," The Pitt News, 1994

"Pitt rushing legend enshrined in Pro Football Hall of Fame," The Pitt News, 1994

This news article includes information about Tony Dorsett being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

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Tony Dorsett, “Hawk” to those who knew him at Pitt, stepped to the podium a month ago at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio and recounted a lifetime. Dorsett, a former Pitt and NFL running back, gave a moving induction speech that detailed his life and, ever the one to meet a challenge, attempted to do so without allowing his emotions to stream down his face. … In his time, Dorsett has done more than just try his best. He has accomplished much as any one person can and he has done so by overcoming what others thought he wasn’t capable. Dorsett was born and raised in Western Pennsylvania. He said being in Canton was sort of a “homecoming” for him, having first journeyed from Aliquippa to Pittsburgh and then Dallas. Dorsett’s father worked at the J and L Steel Mill and the family grew up in government housing in the projects of Aliquippa. Dorsett’s parents wanted him to go to school in a better neighborhood so he studied and played football in Hopewell and went home to Aliquippa. “When I was growing up, I lived in two worlds. It’s like school was one environment and the street was another. But looking back on it, probably the best thing that ever happened to me was not going to school with all my buddies because it gave me a better perspective on learning and life,” Dorsett said. Dorsett spoke at length about his parents. He spoke of how his father was “a wealth of knowledge” to him. He spoke of how his mother was “the backbone of the family.” He also spoke of how his father taught him to do things for himself. Dorsett took a long pause in his speech when remarking on his father, who has passed away, and nearly surrendered to his emotions. However, the man who later became known as TD collected himself and said, ‘‘I ain’t gonna do it guys. I ain’t gonna do it.” “He was on an emotional high that day,” Anthony Dorsett Jr. said. ‘‘All that stuff was justjoy coming out.” Dorsett told of the first time he tried out for football. He and a friend stuffed rocks in their pockets to make the weight limit. “You know what happened‘? We were still too light,” Dorsett said. Dorsett went on to cover his storied days at Pitt where he set...