University of Richmond Athletics
NASA Astronaut, Former Spider WR Leland Melvin In NFL Hall Of Fame
08/11/2010 | Football
Aug. 11, 2010
CANTON, Ohio (ESPN.com) - Located just off Interstate 77 in northeast Ohio, the Pro Football Hall of Fame houses the history of the NFL and its greatest stars.
Montana.
Unitas.
Payton.
For 47 years, it's been holy ground for the football fan. It's a place where fans can lose themselves in more than 83,000 square feet of photos, highlights and artifacts of their favorite teams and players. It's a place where moments from the earliest days of the league to the modern era remain alive.
But beyond what fans see on television and read in magazines or online, what is it that we don't know about the Hall of Fame? For every display of Hall of Famers Jim Brown, Dan Marino and Otto Graham, there are lesser-known players who have shaped pro football just as much as the stars.
Still, this museum features a display honoring a player who never once played a down in a regular-season game.
What makes him special? Melvin is the first former NFL player to become an astronaut and fly on a mission in space.
Melvin was an 11th-round pick of the Detroit Lions in the 1986 draft. The wide receiver from the University of Richmond was an honorable mention All-American in his junior and senior seasons and graduated as the Spiders' all-time leader ...
Read the complete article at ESPN.com
