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Late Steelers exec Bill Nunn makes history with election to Pro Football Hall of Fame

Joe Rutter
| Sunday, February 7, 2021 1:56 p.m.
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Late Steelers scout Bill Nunn was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021. He will be enshrined Aug. 6-9 in Canton, Ohio.

Under the guise of a reporter from Canton, Ohio, seeking an interview, the Pro Football Hall of Fame convinced Lynell Nunn to do a Zoom call a couple of weeks ago.

Nunn reluctantly agreed to do the video chat – she thought a simple phone call would suffice – but her mood became upbeat when she saw the person on the computer was David Baker, the Hall of Fame’s president.

“Obviously, I’m not a reporter from the Canton paper,” Nunn recalled Baker saying. “I’m pleased to tell you …”

He didn’t need to finish the sentence. Baker was breaking the news that Lynell’s father, Bill Nunn, whose tenure in the Pittsburgh Steelers front office spanned 46 years, was posthumously elected to the Hall of Fame in the contributor category.

Since Nunn was the only deceased member of the eight-member Hall of Fame Class of 2021 — he died in 2014 at age 89 — Baker handled the announcement virtually with the Nunn family. For the other seven members, Baker provided a knock at the front door to their homes.

“They tried to do their own little surprise,” Lynell Nunn said. “And it was, it really was a surprise, and it was nice.”

Bill Nunn, who was responsible for scouting players from Historically Black Colleges and Universities, was named a contributor finalist in August. Although he was the lone finalist on the ballot, he still needed to receive 80% of the votes from the 48-member Hall of Fame committee to gain election.

When voting was official, Nunn became the 26th member selected as a contributor. More importantly, he became the first predominant scout to make the Hall of Fame — and the first African-American front-office executive.

“That would have meant everything to him,” Lynell said. “He was always looking for diversity, appreciating diversity, trying to change things for the better.”

Nunn’s candidacy was enhanced by a rule change adopted by the Hall of Fame in 2014. Until then, contributor candidates were lumped in with modern-era finalists, with no more than five from that group gaining induction each year. It resulted in just nine contributors getting inducted in the previous 46 years, including the Steelers’ Art Rooney Sr. and Dan Rooney.

The decision in 2014 made the category separate in hopes of eliminating a backlog of qualified candidates that included commissioners, owners, general managers and other executives. Nunn became the seventh contributor selected since the rule change.

“If they had not created it, guys like Bill probably would not be in the Hall of Fame,” Steelers president Art Rooney II said Sunday. “I remember my father’s Hall of Fame speech. He wasn’t sure if anybody but players should be in the Hall of Fame. I knew what he was saying, but I think the Hall made a good decision to open up their doors to people like Bill.”

Nunn’s selection became official Saturday night during the NFL Honors program televised nationally by CBS.

“When we first got the news in August, that was mind-boggling,” Lynell said. “Last night really made it come to life. We are so honored and pleased.”

The induction ceremony in Canton will take place Aug. 6-9 and will include members of the Centennial Class of 2020, whose festivities were postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Nunn will be enshrined along with guard Alan Faneca from this year’s class, plus safeties Donnie Shell and Troy Polamalu and coach Bill Cowher from 2020.

“We’ll have to make special plans,” Rooney II said. “We’ll have to find the biggest tent in Ohio to have a celebration after the ceremony. It will be a special weekend.”


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