Only a few thousand tickets remain for the 2003 Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony to be held Sunday, August 3 in Canton, Ohio.
Among those to be enshrined are former Packers legend James Lofton. Lofton was the No. 1 draft pick of the Green Bay Packers in 1978, and became the first NFL player to catch a touchdown pass in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
In 16 seasons as a pro, Lofton caught 764 passes for 14,004 yards - an average of 18.3 yards per catch. His career-reception yardage mark was an NFL best at the time of his retirement, while his 43 games with 100 or more yards receiving ranked third.
During his nine seasons in Green Bay, Lofton was selected to play in seven Pro Bowls. He led the Packers in receptions each year except one (1979), while gaining more than 1,000 receiving yards in five of those years. Many of his 75 touchdown receptions came on long passes when he simply outran the opposition.
Reserved seating for the ceremony will be located from approximately the 15-yard line to the far 40-yard line in both the north and south sideline stands, and are available for $10 each.
In addition to the reserved seats, there will also be approximately 8,800 open general admission seats available to the public at no cost. The general admission seats will be on a first-come, first-served basis the day of the event.
Requests for reserved tickets, which also will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis, should be sent to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Attn. Enshrinement Tickets, 2121 George Halas Drive NW, Canton, OH 44708. Payment, which must accompany the order, can only be made by credit card (Visa), money order, or cashier's check. A $1 handling charge per order must also be included. Reserved ticket orders will be mailed by July 15.
Scheduled to begin at 2 p.m., with pre-enshrinement introductions beginning at 1:30 p.m., the ceremony will again be nationally televised by ESPN.
In addition to the enshrinement ceremony, fans will have the opportunity to be among the first to experience the new Hall of Fame Gallery, which will be the new home to the 221 members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and will open July 3.
The Green Bay Packers will open the preseason the following day as they take on the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC-NFC Pro Football Hall of Fame Game. The game will be aired live on ABC's Monday Night Football beginning at 7 p.m. CT.