However, Sydney and her three brothers will participate in the unveiling of Seau’s bust, and Sydney will be interviewed on stage after the sheet is removed from the permanent bronze memorial to Junior Seau.
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According to The Times, Seau once told his family that if he was ever inducted into the Hall of Fame, he wanted his daughter, Sydney, to introduce him. Normally, the unveiling is only done by the presenter and enshrinee.
The Hall went to video speeches by presenters of both living and deceased enshrinees in 2010, and in 2011 there was no introduction for the posthumous induction of former Rams linebacker Les Richter. The normal highlight video lasts three minutes.
Junior Seau’s daughter will be able to speak about her father at the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony, after all.
Sydney also will participate in the “Gold Jacket” ceremony Thursday and be given a forum to speak on NFL Network.
“I saw a man that right before my eyes [was] changing”, said Tyler Seau, Junior Seau’s son, about his father in a 60 Minutes interview in January 2015 (via Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wetzel).
The NFL and the HOF feared Sydney would use her platform as an arena to discuss traumatic brain injury, something the Seau family (who is involved in a lawsuit against the National Football League) has been outspoken about.
Seau played 20 years in the NFL, spending the bulk of his career with the San Diego Chargers. The family filed a wrongful death suit against the NFL in 2013. However, the Seau family does not want this issue to become a distraction to Junior’s accomplishments and legacy or those of the other inductees. He was one of the most decorated linebackers in the sport’s history, making 12 Pro Bowls and earning first-team All-Pro honors on six occasions.
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“She will have the opportunity to say whatever she wants to say but we will still maintain our (posthumous induction) policy”, Baker said.
