Darrelle Revis' drive helps him reach Hall of Fame
Former NFL player Darrelle Revis gives his bust a kiss during his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, on Saturday. Credit: AP/David Dermer
CANTON, Ohio — Darrelle Revis always thought he would be a Hall of Famer.
Just not this Hall of Fame.
“Basketball was my first love,” he said. “I was nice, now . . . People back at home in Aliquippa [Pennsylvania] know I’m a hooper at heart.”
He spoke about being a preteen ballboy for his uncle’s college team at Duquesne and believing he would make it to the NBA before any of those players a decade older than him.
But that’s not the direction in which Revis’ life took him. Instead, it was another uncle, Sean Gilbert, an NFL player himself, who began to show Revis what football had to offer.
Gilbert would pass him cash for interceptions, push him to intensify his training, teach him to value his worth and open his eyes to the rewards that were possible . . . much to the chagrin of NFL executives who later had to negotiate contracts with him.
But most of all, Gilbert instilled in Revis a drive that he carried with him in whatever he attempted.
“It wasn’t enough to win,” he said. “I needed to dominate.”
That he did that for 11 NFL seasons, eight of them with the Jets, is what brought him to this Hall of Fame, the Pro Football Hall of Fame. On Saturday he was among the nine who were enshrined in Canton as the Class of 2023.
Seven Pro Bowls. Four All-Pro teams. An all-decade nod. A Super Bowl ring. It was a career that even those closest to him could not always believe.
“When he got to the Jets, I was so amazed by his play and who he was out there on that field,” said his mother, Diana Askew, who presented him for induction. “I knew what I put into him, but I didn’t know it was going to come out like that. That’s my son. That’s my son out there doing this. It was amazing. Like a superhero.”
And of course he had a cool comic book-worthy nickname: Revis Island, where some of the best receivers in the game found themselves marooned under his tight coverage.
It seemed wildly appropriate that Revis entered the Hall with the first class to not include a quarterback, wide receiver or pass-catching tight end since 2012. A shutdown corner all the way through.
Revis, in his speech, thanked a number of people, including his head coach with the Jets, Rex Ryan (“After our first meeting, I was convinced I would play my heart out for him,” Revis said) and defensive backs coach Dennis Thurman.
He gave a special shout-out to the player with whom he now competes for the title of greatest cornerback of all time, Deion Sanders, with, naturally, a basketball analogy.
“He was a prototype for me,” Revis said. “What Jordan was to Kobe, Prime was to Revis Island. You came first and I wanted to play just like you. You were the road map to greatness. Thank you for paving the way.”
Revis shared the day with fellow enshrinees Ronde Barber, DeMarcus Ware, Zach Thomas, Joe Thomas and fellow Jet Joe Klecko. Ken Riley and Don Coryell were inducted posthumously; Chuck Howley, who suffers from dementia, was unable to attend the event.
It was a ceremony that had poignant parts (Ware described having a gun held to his head as a youth and deciding at that moment he would turn to football rather than a life of violence on the streets) and comically honest ones (Klecko said: “I wish I could play today, not for the competition, but for the money”). Former Giants running back Tiki Barber presented his twin brother; Ronde gave a playful shout-out to the artist behind his bust for “not making it look like him.” Later Ronde said with heartfelt pride: “I would not be here without my brother.”
Joe Thomas, who played his career in nearby Cleveland, gave the final speech of the day to a crowd packed with Browns fans. But with Revis and Klecko going in together, Canton also was teeming with Jets fans. They mostly cheered for their players, but there was one time when they soured on their newest Hall of Famer. When it was mentioned that Revis had won the Super Bowl in 2014, not with the Jets but with the hated Patriots, there were audible groans.
But when Revis was met with a “J-E-T-S” chant, he soaked it in and said: “It feels like MetLife Stadium in here.”
That relationship was part of Revis’ legacy just as much as his play, and he acknowledged it on Saturday.
“The pressure was intense, but so was the love,” Revis said. “To the Jets fans, for all the boos and cheers when I was drafted 14th overall, to burning my jersey when I signed with the Patriots, to now being here in Canton, I guess it’s safe to say we’ve been through a lot together. You expected great things from me, and every single game I accepted the challenge. Thank you for believing in me and supporting me every step of the way.
“You will always have a place to stay on Revis Island.”
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
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