In his 20-year N.F.L. career, Junior Seau established himself as one of the game’s greatest linebackers. But Seau couldn't be in Canton, Ohio this past Saturday to stand with 7 other NFL great to accept his induction into the NFL Hall of Fame. Seau committed suicide in 2012 at age 43, subsequently being found to have had a degenerative brain condition linked to repeated hits to the head.

Before his death, Seau asked his daughter Sydney to speak on his behalf, if he was to ever make it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But the Hall, citing a five-year-old policy of not letting others give full speeches for deceased inductees, would not allow Sydney to deliver her speech on Saturday. There are many, including myself that feel that Seau's daughter should have been allowed to speak for her father, but the NFL feared what she might actually say in the speech, as the family is currently involved in a multi-plantiff lawsuit with the NFL regarding head trauma and its cumulative affects.

Recorded in her hotel room in Canton, this is the speech that Sydney had hoped to deliver at the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

 

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