Mental health, doubters, Eagles fans — Brian Dawkins touches it all in HOF speech

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CANTON, Ohio — He spoke about the highest highs and the lowest lows. He spoke about the challenges he overcame and the accomplishments he achieved. He spoke about his remarkable journey from a gangly youngster that the other kids mocked to one of the greatest safeties in history. And he talked about his battle with depression.

And more than anything, he spoke about everybody who helped him do it all.

With a rousing, powerful, emotional 20-minute speech before a crowd of 22,000 at Tom Benson Stadium, Brian Dawkins on Saturday evening joined the greatest players in NFL history as the 313th inductee in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

As he stood at center stage and began his acceptance speech, he opened up his gold jacket and speaking in his most intense and passionate preacher’s voice, shared that he wanted to write the name of everybody who helped him along the way on the inside of the jacket as a constant reminder of how he got where he is.

“I would like to put every last one of the individuals that was special in my life on the inside of my jacket, so every time I put this thing on it reminds me visually and emotionally that I did not do this by myself because I did not do this by myself,” he said. “I did not.”

Dawkins became most likely the first Hall of Famer to discuss mental health in his acceptance speech.

Dawkins has spoken recently about his personal battle with depression and his suicidal thoughts early in his career, and with a huge audience at the Hall of Fame, he again focused on the people who helped him through those challenges.

He singled out Emmitt Thomas, his defensive coordinator the first three years of his career, for being the first to urge him to get help.

Thomas, a Hall of Fame defensive back with the Chiefs, sat a few feet away as Dawkins spoke about him, gesturing toward him.

“Emmitt Thomas, I want to thank you, E, you blessed me,” he said. “I call you uncle Emmitt for a reason.

“When I was in that depressive state, when I was thinking of suicide, it was your guidance helping me go see someone to allow me to be alive today. You’re one of my guardian angels.”

With his voice quivering, he also thanked his wife Connie for helping him through those dark days.

“My beautiful bride Connie,” he said. “The other part of me being here is because of that woman, because of Connie, because of you urging me to see a psychologist to talk about my problems and be more open about my problems. You were there for me.”

And in a unique gesture, he had a gold veil presented to his wife so she could go into the Hall of Fame with him.

As Dawk watched and took a break from his speech and the crowd roared, she put on the veil.

Dawk spoke at length about his childhood in Jacksonville, Fla., where an NFL career was the farthest thing from his mind.

“It wasn’t supposed to be me,” he said. “This wasn’t supposed to happen to Brian Dawkins. It was not.

“I was not the biggest of guys growing up. I was not always the dude. … It was never me. I was always called, ‘Little this, little that,’ and I got tired of that so I grew angry and that became violent anger and I would lose control sometimes.

“It’s like a flood. When a flood comes it washes everything out of its way, but when you put a dam up, it gives you energy. So if you see me crawling, when you see me acting the fool, that’s some of the energy from the anger that I had bottled up. That chip on my shoulder.”

Dawkins thanked his family, and he thanked several of his high school and youth coaches and his teammates. He singled out the impact of Thomas, Jim Johnson and Andy Reid and former Eagles personnel executive John Wooton, who drafted Dawkins out of Clemson in the second round in 1996.

And he also thanked those who doubted him along the way.

“I want to thank my haters,” he said. “I want to thank those people who told me through other people that I couldn’t make it because I was too small, because I couldn’t make it, because I couldn’t do this, that or the other.

“Guess what their words were to me? They just pushed my turbine, so my haters became my elevators. They helped me out. So thank you to those who kept doubting me, who told me what I couldn’t do.”

He touched on how and why he became the player he became. One of the most feared hitters we’ve ever seen.

He said fear of failure drove him.

“I have a healthy dose of fear of letting you down,” he said, his voice cracking. “That’s why I went so doggone hard. I never wanted to let you down. I didn’t. 

“I gave everything I had down to the last drop for you because I loved you to the last drop. So thank you.”

And as he neared the end, he talked about the one thing you knew he had to talk about.

The best fans in the world.

“Let’s talk about these Eagles fans,” he said as the place went berserk.

“I know some of you drove all the way from Philly here. I have a good understanding that you don’t have money just to waste, so that means you put hard-earned money to come out here and celebrate with your boy.

“So thank you for loving me the way I love you. I love you back and I thank you for everything.”

And with that, Dawk exchanged high fives and hugs with the other Hall of Famers and began life as part of football immortality.

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