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Here is the speech Junior Seau’s daughter planned to honor her father with

By Jonathan Bass

Aug 8, 2015, Canton, OH, USA; Sydney Seau poses with the bust of her late father Junior Seau at the 2015 Pro Football Enshrinement Cermony at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 8, 2015, Canton, OH, USA; Sydney Seau poses with the bust of her late father Junior Seau at the 2015 Pro Football Enshrinement Cermony at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports /
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Watch the speech that Junior Seau’s daughter wanted to give at the NFL Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony.

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Saturday was a bittersweet evening in Canton, Ohio. Eight new members were enshrined at the NFL Hall of Fame, as fans and contemporaries remembered their accomplishments with fondness. However, despite the fanfare, the specter of Junior Seau’s tragically premature death hung over the crowd.

Prior to taking his own life, Seau had instructed his daughter, Sydney, to give a speech on his behalf should he ever make the Hall of Fame and be unable to attend. Sadly, Seau’s demons got the better of him, and he committed suicide in 2012.

After the announcement that her father was to be inducted as a part of the 2015 class, Sydney prepared to honor his wishes by talking in his stead. However, a recent rule change for the event forbids any persons to speak for posthumously awarded inductees. The NFL believes those speeches to be redundant, and runs video tributes instead.

In the case of Seau, the league relented a bit. Sydney Seau was not permitted to stand behind the podium and address the fans in attendance at length. She was, however, given a few minutes offstage by her father’s bust to offer an abbreviated statement.

While touching, it was not the speech Sydney intended to deliver had she been afforded the podium. The New York Times reached out to Seau’s daughter and offered a platform from her words could be heard. Below is video of Sydney Seau honoring her father with the complete speech she had written for Saturday’s induction ceremony.

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