With remarkable poise and strength, Sydney Seau honored her late father, Junior Seau at the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony on Saturday evening.
"I want nothing more than to see you come on stage, give the speech you were meant to give, give me a hug and tell me you love me one last time. But that isn't our reality," Sydney, 21, said on stage.
However, it was a moment that was not without its controversy. The New York Times reported last month that the Hall would stick to a five-year old policy that family members cannot give speeches on behalf of inductees who have died.
Many criticized the decision and suspected it was an easy out from addressing Seau's 2012 suicide and his later diagnosis of degenerative brain disease, which doctors have attributed to the hits he took to his head during his NFL career.
So instead, the Hall played a five-minute commemorative video of Seau's 20-year career in the league, and compromised with a brief interview with Sydney Seau, which you can watch over at Deadspin.
"I know his athleticism and talent made him extraordinary enough to make it into the Hall," she said. "But it is his passion and heart that make him truly legendary and deserving of this tremendous honor."
While Sydney's words may have been blocked at the ceremony in Canton, Ohio, they were instead published by New York Times on Saturday. The paper provided the text of the speech Sydney would have delivered as well as video of the young woman reading her powerful words of her father's career and life.
Prior to the ceremony, Sydney said she would not make the moment about her father's death (his family currently has a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the NFL that is now part of a class-action suit).
The circumstances surrounding Junior Seau's death at 43 were not mentioned at the ceremony, nor in his daughter's speech.
However, Sydney Seau's speech, provided exclusively to the Times, addresses the day her father died.
But I think what we tend to forget about our favorite invincible, unstoppable, indestructible superhumans is the minor detail that they are also human. That is something that we all must endure today without his physical presence. We cannot celebrate his life and achievement without feeling the constant piece thatโs missing.
May 2, 2012, we all endured a loss. Thousands lost their all-time favorite linebacker, hundreds lost their favorite Charger, tens lost their buddy, and four lost their father. The reason why this honor is so hard to accept is because we had always envisioned him still being here to accept it.
You can read Sydney's incredible speech over at the New York Times.
