Pro Football Hall of Fame surprises Bill Cowher on live TV, tells him he's in 2020 class

Frank Schwab
·NFL writer
Updated ·2 min read
Bill Cowher will be a part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's 2020 class. (AP)
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The Pro Football Hall of Fame did something different, and it ended up being a fun moment for Bill Cowher.

Cowher, the former Pittsburgh Steelers coach, was told on CBS’s pregame show on Saturday night that he’ll be part of the Hall of Fame’s 2020 class. Cowher won Super Bowl XL with Pittsburgh.

Cowher was talking about Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson with Phil Simms when Pro Football Hall of Fame president David Baker came out and surprised Cowher from behind. Baker is the one who knocks on the hotel door to let new inductees know they’ve been voted in the HOF, and Cowher seemed to realize what was happening.

“This isn’t right that this is happening now,” Cowher said with a smile.

Baker then told Cowher he was in the Hall’s 2020 class. Cowher’s wife and daughter came out to hug him. The crew on the CBS set then all came to congratulate him.

Cowher surprisingly kept his emotions together well as he was told about the honor.

“I’m a blessed man, and I’ve been very blessed to be surrounded by some pretty special people,” Cowher said.

The Hall of Fame is doing a superclass in 2020 to celebrate the NFL’s 100th season. The rest of that extra class — which includes 10 seniors (players who last played more than 25 seasons ago), three contributors (an individual other than a player or coach) and two coaches (who last coached more than five seasons ago) — will be announced Wednesday. Usually the annual class is told after the vote, which takes place the Saturday before the Super Bowl. This might be the first time someone was surprised with the honor on live television, and it was a pretty cool way to let Cowher know he was in.

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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab

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