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Pro Football HOF’s David Baker looks back on telling Cowboys legends they’d be getting gold jackets

Jimmy Johnson, Drew Pearson and Cliff Harris will all be inducted into the Hall next month.

Editor’s note: This story was originally published on July 21, 2021.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame will very soon be three Dallas Cowboys heavier.

Former head coach Jimmy Johnson, wide receiver Drew Pearson and safety Cliff Harris will all be inducted into the Hall next month as the NFL honors both the centennial 2020 class along with the class of 2021 in Canton, Ohio.

Pro Football Hall of Fame president and CEO David Baker, who many Cowboys fans would recognize as the giant figure who crashed Fox’s halftime show to inform Johnson of his induction in 2020, recently spoke with The Dallas Morning News about the Cowboys’ inductees and to tell his side of the story about his experience in his induction role:

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On pulling off the surprise announcements for Bill Cowher and Jimmy Johnson on live television...

Baker: “When we opened the envelope (of 2020 selections), we pretty quickly recognized that the two coaches – one was on CBS on Saturday in New York, and the other was in Los Angeles later in the afternoon on Sunday. So, we did a little research on red-eye flights and thought, you know, maybe we could do this. …

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“It was very surreptitious. Only the presidents of the networks and the producers knew what was happening. And, frankly, I don’t think we understood at the time the stir it was going to cause because you had 48 million people see those two broadcasts. When we did it with Bill Cowher – it was emotional. Bill’s a private guy. He’s got that big, steel jaw and it was shaking, and everybody on the set was impacted.

“So, then we take the red-eye flight to LA. And as much as you can disguise a 6-9, 400-pound guy – in this world you work in here, it’s one of those things where people now tweet stuff out and Snapchat and if you get your picture taken – we were concerned that somebody might know that I was in LA. So, Fox put me in the Beverly Wilshire hotel just to shower and shave and to hide out. And there was actually a couple from Atlanta who recognized me and asked if I could get my picture taken with them, and for the first time in my life I said, ‘No.’ Apologized and they understood, but I always felt bad about that. …

“[Fox] kept me on the back lot until the very last moment. And I think once he saw Bill happen he thought it might happen for him, but when it didn’t happen in pregame, he thought he was done. And then when I came out [during the halftime show] – Fox has a team there that everybody except Jimmy is in the Hall of Fame. Not Curt Menefee, obviously, but you’ve got Terry [Bradshaw], Tony [Gonzalez], Howie [Long], Michael Strahan – they’ve all got gold jackets. And when I came out, Jimmy immediately had tears in his eyes.

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“I think Terry and Howie were a little concerned about him because he wasn’t breathing. And he uses an inhaler, by the way, and he just didn’t breathe that entire time. And when they went to a commercial break he pulled it out and was trying to breathe.

“To me, it’s very reflective of what I’ve come to see here. Obviously, Jimmy is a strong-willed, independent coach. But that moment when you tell them they are going to Canton, I guarantee you he was thinking about his mom. It wasn’t about how much money he makes or how many Super Bowl rings he has. It was about the journey that it took to get there. I’ve done this about 80 times and you can see it flash in front of them, how long it took to get there, all the things they had to overcome. It was really special to me to see how Jimmy reacted to this.”

On breaking the news to Cliff Harris, as well as the much more publicized journey to the Hall for Drew Pearson...

Baker: “Cliff was a guy I told on the phone because we had 20 guys in that class. … He was humble and overcome and fun, but he was so honored to be in. Drew was a unique case because the year before Drew actually had a party at his house and thought he was going to go in that year. So, I had to call him with some not very good news and say, ‘Hey, I hope I get to call you back next year.’ He thought he was going to be part of that centennial class that Cliff was a part of. We don’t want to disappoint these guys. We certainly don’t want to disrespect them. But it was a difficult situation.

So, to have the opportunity to give him the good news … (in a surprise meeting with an assist from Roger Staubach and Jerry Jones) … when I knocked on the door for him, I mean, the tears were flowing.

“I remember him saying something to the effect of now his kids will have something that they can hold onto forever. And I also remember him saying how he promises to live to the values of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It was very special. And again, I think all three of these guys, how do you tell the history of the game without Jimmy Johnson, Cliff Harris and Drew Pearson?”

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