Prior to his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame next month, Ron Wolf was made available to the national media on a conference call Tuesday.
During his time addressing the media, he touched on a variety of topics including his feeling on joining the elite club as well what he learned from legendary Raiders owner Al Davis.
It Feels Good To Be In The Hall
After dedicating most of his life to football, Wolf acknowledges that it feels good to be recognized for all his hard work.
"It's an unbelievable experience for me personally to even think that I am being considered in the upper echelon of people that have made the National Football League and professional football *the *sport in the United States of America. I'm about five feet off the ground now when I walk and it's a startling thing, for the realization that, here you go, you're going to go in here with the pillars of professional football, who have made the game the game in the United States of America. It's a thrill."
**He Shares A Connection With Tim Brown
**
Wolf was in the Raiders front office in 1988 when the team decided to draft a wide receiver from Notre Dame named Time Brown.
Now the pair is going into the Hall of Fame together, and Wolf shared some of his memories from the day the Silver and Black selected Brown.
"There were three receivers in that draft who were outstanding, two of whom are in the Hall of Fame, and one, had he not been injured, would have been in the Hall of Fame, Sterling Sharpe. Tim Brown went first, then Michael Irvin, and then Sterling Sharpe. You could have taken any one of those guys and it would have been successful. Tim really filled a big need for us as a return guy as well as a starting receiver, so it was kind of a no brainer."
Learning From Mr. Davis
During his time in Oakland, Wolf was fortunate enough to work with and learn from Al Davis, and during their time together, the Raiders owner taught him many lessons about the game that shaped the rest of his career.
"It was like a story book happening. It was something that I always wanted to do, to have an opportunity to work in professional football. In 1963 Al was named head coach and general manager of the Oakland Raiders. He brought me out there on a trial basis, trained me, started me at the bottom and we moved all the way through. It was a tremendous education for someone of my ilk, to have a man with this ability to evaluate the way Al would early on. I could not have been in a better situation than that at the outset."
Memories of Ken Stabler
During the call, Wolf also recalled some memories about the times he spent with Ken "The Snake" Stabler.
"I'm the reason that the Raiders drafted Kenny Stabler. I had some backing. I had John Rauch in the room for it. It was a pretty easy deal, and he came through. That also helps. People forget that he sat out his first three years. Football was very important to him, and I can vividly recall practice sessions before big games, championship games, when I was there where the ball never touched the ground. That's how accurate he was."
Shared His Keys To Success
Wolf was asked what the most critical factors were in a scouting department, and he believes the answer is quite simple.
"To me, the most critical factor, this may sound very simple, but the ability to evaluate is a talent that few people possess. I worked with so many tremendous people during my time that I would slight somebody if I named somebody as the best. I was very fortunate enough to have very good people that I worked with and people that worked for me. People try to make it like a science, but it's not a science. It's a skill and either you have that skill or you don't."
