Michael Rothstein, ESPN Staff Writer 8y

Marv Levy to give induction speech for Dick Stanfel at Pro Football Hall of Fame

When former Detroit Lions and Washington Redskins offensive lineman Dick Stanfel is posthumously enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Aug. 6, another Hall of Famer will be giving his induction speech.

Former Buffalo Bills head coach Marv Levy, who was inducted into the Hall in 2001, will be presenting Stanfel into the Hall next month, Stanfel’s son, Rich, told ESPN on Sunday. Stanfel, who died on June 22, 2015, at age 87, will also be honored with a video presentation of his life.

Stanfel’s three sons, including Rich, will join Levy in unveiling the bust during the enshrinement.

“Marv Levy was always the guy pounding the table [with the senior committee] and going 'you’ve got to consider Stanfel again,'" Rich Stanfel said. “Dick, his career, what he did in his short stay. He said very few people did more than him, particularly with the body of work he’s had.

“Marv was the hugest proponent of getting, if I had to pick one single person, Marv Levy sort of carried the banner for dad.”

Rich Stanfel said the first person he called after his father was announced as part of this Hall of Fame class was Levy, to make sure he heard about the enshrinement. Rich Stanfel said Levy was immediately considered at the top of the list to present his father and that it would have either been Levy or one of the three Stanfel children.

But the family wanted someone to speak about their father’s career, something Levy could do well.

Besides being contemporaries, Levy hired Stanfel to his staff at Cal as an offensive line coach in 1963. Levy and Stanfel worked together again in 1969 with the Philadelphia Eagles when Stanfel was the team’s offensive line coach and Levy was hired as a kicking coach.

“I can’t speak on his career and his playing and that’s what this is about,” Rich Stanfel said. “So I thought that having someone that can tell the story, I can’t think of anybody better than Marv Levy.”

Stanfel was a second-round pick of the Detroit Lions out of San Francisco in 1951. He played for the Lions from 1952 to 1955 and then for Washington from 1956 to 1958. Stanfel then went into coaching. He coached the line at Notre Dame from 1959 to 1962 and then the offensive line at Cal in 1963.

He moved back into the NFL in 1964 and was the offensive line coach in Philadelphia (1964-1970) and San Francisco (1971-1974). He was promoted to offensive coordinator with the 49ers in 1975 and then became the offensive line coach for the New Orleans Saints from 1976 to 1980. He also became the interim head coach of the Saints in 1980.

Then he went to the Bears, where he had his longest stint, mostly under Mike Ditka. He coached Chicago’s offensive line from 1981 to 1992 and was part of the staff that won Super Bowl XX. His last job in the league came in New Orleans, where he coached the offensive line in 1997 and 1998.

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