Pro Football Hall of Fame honors 3 equipment managers

CANTON, Ohio (AP) — Three equipment managers will be honored with the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Awards of Excellence for the 2025 class.

Tom Gray, Dennis Ryan and George Luongo were picked Tuesday as the equipment managers in the fourth class for the Awards of Excellence.

Gray worked for Cincinnati since the team's inception in the AFL in 1968 and attended all 644 games in the preseason, regular season and playoffs through 1999.

Ryan began his career as a teenager with Minnesota in 1975 as a part-time employee. In 1981, he became the NFL’s youngest equipment manager at 21 years old. He stayed with the organization for 47 seasons, accumulating a streak of 705 consecutive games worked until COVID-19 protocols kept him off the sideline.

Luongo worked as an equipment manager from the Patriots’ origin in the AFL in 1960 until retiring after the 1993 season and never missed a game day.

Longtime assistant coaches Dick Hoak, Elijah Pitts and Jim McNally; public relations directors Pete Abitante, Jason Jenkins and Bill Keenist; and athletic trainers Ed Block, Pepper Burruss and John Norwig were previously selected for awards that will be handed out at a ceremony in June. The Hall will later announce winners for film and video directors.

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