Pro Football HOF worth the trip

From time to time for my At Home Fitness blog I like to step away from the how to’s of topics like exercising, or picking out fitness equipment, and write about other aspects of the sports world.
Today, several family members and myself visited the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
Established in 1963, the Football HOF now includes 260 members and annually attracts around 200,000 visitors.
It’s annual highlight is, of course, the HOF enshrinement ceremony, which will be held Saturday, Aug.7 of this year. The Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, which kicks off the NFL’s preseason, will follow as usual the next day.
One thing that struck my family in what was a return visit for myself was how much the equipment used by football players has changed over the years.
There are interesting displays showing the evolution of football helmets throughout the years, along with other innovations and improvements.
In the fitness world I blog about there are many updates to keep up to date with and companies always seem to come up with better fitness equipment to put on the market.
In the early days of pro football, weight lifting wasn’t even something that was talked about and if you’ve have mentioned running on a treadmill the players would have likely been extremely confused.
As we all know, technology has made many things better: football and the fitness equipment world are two great examples.
The real crown jewel of the 83,000-square Pro Football HOF is the bust room, where each of the inductees has a bust grouped with their year’s enshrinement class.
Another highlight my family commented on was the life-sized mannequin lineup of HOFers seated on a bench together, which included Jim Brown and Walter Payton.
And the gift shop offers an impressive list of possibilities, or simply souvenirs to treat yourself.
If you’re a football fan who’s ever near Canton, Ohio, make sure to try and visit the HOF.
Perhaps the best comment from one of my family members after our visit was this: “Wow, I really had a great time. This HOF is even better than I had expected.”

At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.net