DeMarcus Ware's emotional speech highlights NFL HOF induction - ESPN

CANTON, Ohio — DeMarcus Ware's football journey from small-college star to Pro Football Hall of Famer took a fateful turn in the early 2000s, when he made a life-altering decision with a knife in his hand.

Choking with emotion as he recalled the incident Saturday in his induction speech at Tom Benson Stadium, the former Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos star said he was assaulted by a gun-wielding man in a parking lot during a trip home while attending Troy University. That moment, which he'd never shared publicly, changed his life.

«Without warning, I was knocked across the head with a gun,» Ware told the crowd. «A knife dropped to the ground and I picked it up. And when I looked up, all I could see was the potential shooter's eyes and a gun barrel pressed against my head. All I heard was my family say, 'Don't kill him.'

»There was an eerie silence after which I simply said, 'This isn't me,' and I dropped the knife. At that moment I knew God gave me a second chance and I had to do something with it. That was my turning point. The memories of those parking-lot lights and the sounds of those screams, 'Don't kill him,' became the fire that empowered me. You can imagine how many years that night echoed in my head."

Ware joined offensive tackle Joe Thomas, linebacker Zach Thomas and cornerbacks Darrelle Revis and Ronde Barber in the 2023 Pro Football Hall of Fame class, along with coach Don Coryell, defensive lineman Joe Klecko, linebacker Chuck Howley and cornerback Ken Riley. Ware led the NFL in sacks two different seasons with the Cowboys. He won a Super Bowl in 2016 with the Broncos. He said he learned how to be «relentless» and «resilient» from his tough childhood.

«I was blinded by my environment as a child — domestic