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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COMMENTARY: Bad athletes are tolerated if they win

Wouldn’t it be refreshing if the Rockets had enough guts to take a stand with Rafer Alston? Don’t hold your breath. Hell will freeze over before a professional sports team holds an athlete accountable for bad behavior. Yes, the Chicago Bears waived Cedric Benson after his second arrest this year, but the fact Benson had been a bust on the field surely made it easier for them to take action regarding his behavior off it.

Maybe teams don’t care what kind of people they have in uniform because they know you don’t care. The Rockets were widely praised for obtaining a guy with baggage ranging from domestic violence to animal cruelty to an assortment of suspensions, fines and other bad behavior. Who’ll remember that stuff if Ron Artest smothers Kobe Bryant in the playoffs? That’s when Artest will become misunderstood.

An NFL guy recently joked, “If Jeffrey Dahmer could play, we’d say he had an eating disorder.” That’s especially true of the Rockets. A team that just acquired Ron Artest isn’t likely to get tough about a measly little misdemeanor drunk driving charge.

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Tennessee State University's Dent among Pro Football Hall of Fame finalists

Photo: Atlanta native, Richard Dent #95 is a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The former TSU star was selected in the 1983 NFL Draft, Round 8, Pick 203 by the Chicago Bears.

PHOENIX — Richard Dent knows he can’t go back and change anything. So he’s hoping what he did in his 15 NFL seasons is enough to get him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame when voters meet here Saturday.

The former Tennessee State and Chicago Bears star, the Super Bowl XX Most Valuable Player, is among 15 modern era finalists. “I look forward to the opportunity, I think I am deserving,’’ Dent said. “I feel support from people, people who felt like I should be there and can’t understand why I’m not. “But I’ve done all I can do. My work is done; I can’t come back and make it any better than it is." At the time of his retirement following the 1997 season, Dent ranked third all-time in sacks with 137.5, trailing only Reggie White and Bruce Smith.

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