2011 Pro Football Hall Of Fame Inductee Richard Dent gives thanks for what he became

CANTON, Ohio — During his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction speech Saturday, Richard Dent said he “wanted to be someone special my mother and father and brothers could look up to.

” Dent accomplished that and so much more during a 15-year career mostly spent with the Bears where he wowed fans on the lakefront and wreaked havoc in opposing backfields.

Dent finished his career with 137½ sacks, third all-time when he retired behind Reggie White and Bruce Smith, and was the MVP of the 1986 Super Bowl. Those Bears epitomized the Monsters of the Midway.


He had 10 or more sacks in eight seasons, and was also a strong defender of the run, which impressed teammates like offensive guard Tom Thayer, who always appreciated the fact that Dent was a three-down player.

“Buddy Ryan challenged Richard Dent,” Thayer said. “Buddy said, ‘Make sure that you can stop the run, or else you’re not going to play in my defense,’ and then Richard Dent lived up to everything that was required of him on the field.”

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RICHARD DENT: His ‘wildest dream’

CANTON, OH — Dreaming big came naturally to Richard Dent.

“I grew up in a town where a man always said, ‘I have a dream,’ and that man was Martin Luther King,” Dent said. “And as a kid growing up at that time, listening to him, all I could do is dream. I wanted to be someone special that my mother and my father and my family looked up to.”

That kid from Atlanta exceeded his dreams.

Saturday night, he stood as a man inside Fawcett Stadium and was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

“Not in my wildest dream did I think I’d be here,” the 50-year-old Dent said as he looked back on his unlikely path, first to college and then to becoming an NFL superstar with the powerful Chicago Bears of the mid-1980s.

“None of us get anywhere by ourselves,” Dent said, as he thanked dozens of family, friends, teammates and coaches for helping him along his journey. Men such as high school coach, William Lester, and his Tennessee State defensive coordinator, Joe Gilliam, played a huge part in him becoming an NFL player.

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