By Barry Wilner
The Associated Press

CANTON, Ohio - John Elway fearlessly stared down opponents and the clock in the final minutes of games. Yet the prospect of election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame made him sweat.

INDUCTEES

Capsules of the four 2004 inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Bob Brown, Offensive Tackle 6-4, 280 NFL career: 1964-1968 Philadelphia Eagles, 1969-1970 Los Angeles Rams, 1971-1973 Oakland Raiders. Notes: Eagles' first-round pick (second overall) in 1964 NFL draft, also Denver Broncos' first-round pick (first overall) of 1964 AFL draft. ... Played 10 seasons, 126 games. ... An aggressive blocker, he used size and strength to neutralize pass rushers. ... Possessed great quickness, strength and self-confidence. ... He was traded to Los Angeles in 1969, after four all-league seasons with Eagles. ... Chosen All-NFL seven of 10 seasons (1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972). ... Selected second-team All-NFL twice (1964, 1967). ... Voted NFL/NFC offensive lineman of the year three times. ... Chosen to play in six Pro Bowls: three with Eagles, two with Rams, and one with Raiders. ... One of first NFL players to get serious about weightlifting. --- Carl Eller, Defensive End 6-6, 247 NFL career: 1964-1978 Minnesota Vikings, 1979 Seattle Seahawks. Notes: Drafted by Minnesota Vikings (NFL) and Buffalo Bills (AFL), both in first round. ... Played 16 seasons, 225 games. ... Became a regular as a rookie and held job for 15 seasons. ... During Eller's tenure, Vikings won 10 NFL/NFC Central Division crowns, 1969 NFL title, NFC championships in 1973, 1974 and 1976, advanced to four Super Bowls. ... A major factor in the ferocious defensive unit known as "Purple People Eaters". ... Eller anchored line at left end. ... Extremely quick, mobile. ... Excellent on rushing defense, superb pass rusher. ... Had 44 sacks in 1975-77 span. ... Recovered 23 opponents fumbles, third best in history at time of his retirement. ... Eller caused fumble that led to teammate Jim Marshall's famous wrong-way run in 1964. ... All-Pro in 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973. ... All-NFC five times ... Selected to six Pro Bowls. --- John Elway, Quarterback 6-3, 215 NFL career: 1983-1998 Denver Broncos. Notes: Selected by Baltimore Colts in first round (first player overall) of 1983 draft. Was traded to Broncos for two veteran players and 1984 first-round pick. ... Played 16 seasons, 234 games. ... Led his team to five victories in six AFC championship games and two Super Bowl wins. ... His record 47 fourth-quarter game-winning or game-tying drives are legendary. ... In 1986 AFC title game, engineered a 98-yard come-from-behind touchdown drive to tie the Cleveland Browns and send the game into overtime. Broncos won 23-20. ... Only player in NFL history to pass for 3,000 yards and rush for 200 yards in same season seven consecutive times. ... Only second quarterback in NFL history to record 40,000-plus yards passing and 3,000-plus yards rushing during career. ... Ranks second in three of the game's most significant passing categories: yards (51,475), attempts (7,250), completions (4,123). ... Selected to nine Pro Bowls, a first- or second-team All-Pro three times, first- or second-team All-AFC five times. ... Voted the NFL's Most Valuable Player in 1987, the 1993 AFC Offensive Player of the Year and the 1999 Super Bowl Most Valuable Player. --- Barry Sanders, Running Back 5-8, 203 NFL career: 1989-1998 Detroit Lions. Notes: Selected by Lions in first round (third overall) of 1989 draft. ... Played 10 seasons, 153 games. ... Rushed for 1,000-plus yards in each of 10 seasons, first ever to do so. ... In 1997 became third person to gain 2,000 yards in a season. ... Made pro debut just three days after signing with Lions. ... His 1,470 yards rushing during rookie season were just 10 yards short of the league's best for the year. ... Led all rushers in 1990 (1,304 yards), 1994 (1,883 yards), 1996 (1,553 yards), and 1997 (2,053 yards). ... In 1997, gained 100-plus yards rushing in record 14 consecutive regular-season games. ... Voted league MVP in 1997. ... Capitalized on size by running low to ground, making him less of a target for tacklers. ... Elusive, had uncanny ability to reverse direction seemingly at will. ... First- or second-team All-Pro 10 consecutive seasons. ... First running back to reach five 1,500-yard rushing seasons, and only back to do so in four consecutive seasons (1994-1997). ... Chosen for Pro Bowl 10 times. ... Held nearly all Lions rushing records, including 15,269 yards in career, and numerous NFL records at time of retirement.

Barry Sanders calmly slinked his way around and through tacklers nearly twice his size. But the possibility of being chosen for the Canton shrine got Sanders all nervous.

They need not have worried as both the two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback of the Denver Broncos and the 10-time 1,000-yard rusher for the Detroit Lions got in on their first tries.

They'll join Carl Eller and Bob Brown, who took considerably longer to be selected, as the Class of 2004 on Sunday.

Elway admits the lead-up to January's balloting was an anxious time. The man who led more fourth-quarter or overtime victory drives (47) than any other quarterback was antsy.

"You're hopeful, but you're not really involved in the process," Elway says. "You try not to get too excited until you officially hear you are in, but I would have been disappointed if I didn't get in.

"Still, you don't want to put the cart before the horse."

As a player, Elway drove the cart like Ben-Hur and performed like Secretariat. The 1987 league MVP, he ranks second to Dan Marino in many passing categories, including yards (51,475), attempts (7,250) and completions (4,123). Elway, a nine-time Pro Bowler who was the first overall pick in the Class of '83 draft that produced six quarterbacks in the first round, is the only NFL player to pass for 3,000 yards and rush for 200 yards in the same season seven consecutive times.

The climax of his career was winning the 1998 Super Bowl after failing in his first three trips to the title game. To cap it, he also won the championship the next season, then retired on top.

"Beating the Packers for the first Super Bowl - when you worked so long, and getting one in your 15th year, it was a great feeling," Elway says. "That would be the best memory that I had.

"When I retired I was ready to retire. Even after the first year out, I didn't miss it at all. My playing days were over.

"I think the hardest thing was during game day and watching the games. I miss the camaraderie of training camp and being close. You knew your daily schedule and as the time passed I was ready to get the season started. Near the end I was ready to come home."

Sanders went home prematurely at age 31. Within reach of Walter Payton's career rushing record, Sanders stunned the football world when he quit after 10 seasons. The 1989 offensive rookie of the year after winning the '88 Heisman Trophy, Sanders was the first player to rush for at least 1,000 yards in his first 10 seasons. In 1997, when he shared the league MVP award with Brett Favre, Sanders rushed for 100-plus yards in a record 14 consecutive games. That year, he became the third player to gain 2,000 yards on the ground, getting 2,053.

Sanders' trademark was making tacklers miss with a variety of unfathomable moves. He often was compared to Gale Sayers for the way he embarrassed opponents, but he never considered himself in Sayers' class - or on the same level as any Hall of Famers.

"No, it never crossed my mind as a player," he says. "When I heard people mention it to me, it was still the furthest thing from my mind, because I was too busy preparing and playing. When I retired, it still wasn't on my mind. It wasn't something that I really became conscious of until about a year ago when people talked about me being an '04 inductee.

"My biggest achievement was just being able to suit up and play in the NFL. Getting to the Hall of Fame is second. It's the royalty of football and it's a tremendous and humbling honor to go in and be in the same class with the greats of our game."

These four greats comprise the first full class of first-round draft picks to enter in the same year. Sanders went third overall in 1989, Brown was the No. 2 pick in 1964 and Eller was sixth in '64.

Brown, one of the first pro football players to use weight training, was a dominant offensive tackle for the Eagles, Rams and Raiders. He also was the first overall pick in the AFL draft, by Denver, and went on to make seven all-league teams and six Pro Bowls. He retired in 1973.

"I had two options," Brown says. "I could either go out there and be real good and be the beater, or I could go out there and be very mediocre or ordinary and be the beatee. I liked the role of beater better."

Brown and Eller were roommates at a college all-star game and played twice against each other in college. In the NFL, Eller says one of his most memorable plays was on a sack of the Rams' Roman Gabriel that resulted in a safety. Eller beat Brown on the play.

"I had great combat with Carl Eller," Brown says. "Every time I saw Carl Eller, he had his 'A' game going and I had my 'A' game going, too. Because if I didn't have my 'A' game going, then I was going to look like a jerk."

Eller and Alan Page, who made the Hall of Fame in 1988, were the main Purple People Eaters on Minnesota's powerful defensive line. Eller, who retired in 1979, was a five-time All-Pro and made six Pro Bowls, using his quickness and mobility to avoid blockers and find the ball.

"We dominated the opposing teams, certainly some of them, for a while," he says. "That's one of the great things about sports: the competitiveness. It's win or lose ... there's not a lot of gray matter in there."

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