Photo by Bruce Yeung/Getty Images
Ware is in Lake Tahoe this week for the American Century Championship. Following his opening round, he provided insight into his HOF news.
DeMarcus Ware is one of 95 celebrities participating in the American Century Championship in South Lake Tahoe, Nevada at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course.
Despite struggling on day one Friday, he couldn’t help but keep a smile on his face. And why not. He is about to be enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame August 5th.
Following his round, the Dallas Cowboys legend provided detail into how he found out about his induction.
Amazingly, Jerry Jones played a trick on him to pull it off.
“I was fooled. My assistant, she said I’m going to a photo shoot for NFL… We go to Jerry Jones’ office. Every time I go to the facility, I always just go say hi to Jerry,” Ware said.
“I opened up the door, and I saw Jerry with a gold jacket on. I’m like, what are you doing? And then I saw Jim Porter, and I saw the Hall of Fame little crest. He said, ‘DeMarcus Ware welcome to the 2023 Hall of Fame Class.’ It still didn’t hit me yet.”
“And he touched me and he said, ‘Congratulations’ and I like lost it. It was like my whole soul just left out of my body.”
Ware very likely new it was coming at some point. After all, he is easily one of the greatest pash rushers in history. So Jones had to be cagey to get the reaction we all wanted to see.
You can see the mystified look on his face as he realizes what’s happening.
Ware retired after the 2016 season, as a member of the Denver Broncos. He was an integral part of their Super Bowl 50 victory over the Carolina Panthers. It was the lone championship won during his illustrious pro career.
DeMarcus Ware finished his career with 138.5 sacks, the ninth most in the history of the NFL. He was named to nine Pro Bowls, including seven straight from 2006-2012. Even more impressive, the legendary outside linebacker was named an All-Pro eight times during his 13 year career.
He built much of his reputation for being the ultimate team player. But even he acknowledged that it’s time to step into the spot light himself.
“This is that first time to where I’ve got to think about myself and now put that out there to the world.”
