NFL Hall of Fame ceremony: Zach Thomas offers emotional tribute to late Junior Seau during induction speech

Zach Thomas’ Hall of Fame speech included several emotional moments. But the most emotional moment of Thomas’ speech occurred near the end when he paid homage to Junior Seau.

Thomas said that Seau inspired him to become an NFL player. The two were later teammates with the Miami Dolphins. Now, they are teammates in Canton, Ohio, as members of pro football’s most elite club. 

“Though he’s not here physically, he’s here in spirit and in a bust in that building behind me,” Thomas said of Seau, who passed away in 2015. “I love you, buddy.” 

Thomas played similarly to Seau. A physical inside linebacker, Thomas recorded 1,734 tackles during his 13-year career. Seau, the 1992 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, racked up 1,847 tackles during his 20-year career. He was the anchor of the 1994 Chargers team that clinched the franchise’s first and only Super Bowl berth. 

Thomas’ speech also included an emotional tribute from his former Dolphins coach, Jimmy Johnson, a 2021 Hall of Fame inductee. 

“He’s the hardest working player that I ever coached, with extreme talent,” Johnson said while presenting Thomas. “He made every play. He made every tackle.”