Chris Doleman was sitting in an Indianapolis hotel room Saturday night watching the Pro Football Hall of Fame announcements.
He waited in agony to hear if his name would be called as part of the 2012 class headed to Canton. When he finally heard "Chris Doleman," nothing afterward resonated.
"I was numb," Doleman said. "I mean, only name other than mine I remember was (Dermontti) Dawson because they were going alphabetically. Yes. It was a good moment, big moment."
Doleman, who played for the Minnesota Vikings from 1985-93 and again during his final season in 1999, is headed to the Hall of Fame. One of the most fearsome defensive ends in NFL history, Doleman is among six players who found out Saturday they'll be inducted in Canton, Ohio, this summer. Former Minnesota receiver Cris Carter was one of the 15 finalists heading into Saturday and made the initial cut to 10 but didn't get further than that.
Doleman, fourth in NFL history with 150.5 sacks, will be joined by cornerback Jack Butler, center Dermontti Dawson, defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy, running back Curtis Martin and offensive tackle Willie Roaf.
Earlier in the week Doleman said he wasn't quite as nervous this year, his second as a finalist. But as the final minutes ticked away, the suspense got to him.
"My stomach was in knots," said Doleman, who played two seasons for the Atlanta Falcons and three for the San Francisco 49ers between his Vikings stints. "It was. The last 30 minutes was a grind. I'm telling you, with all the commercials, they were talking about this and that. You see Charles Haley, and he had such an impressive case, Cris Carter, all those guys. You can't say anything bad about any of those guys. It's just when they choose to put you in. When my name came up, I was blown away by it. I still can't believe I'm in."
Entering Saturday, there were 15 finalists from the original list of 105 preliminary nominees. Midway through the announcement show, the list was pared to 10 with Doleman and Carter being joined by Dawson, Haley, Kennedy, Martin, coach Bill Parcells, receiver Andre Reed, Roaf and defensive back Aeneas Williams. Running back Jerome Bettis, receiver Tim Brown, owner Ed DeBartolo, Jr., linebacker Kevin Greene and guard Will Shields were out.
The waiting wasn't over for Doleman, though. The list was then cut to five and then later the final announcement came. Butler was a senior committee selection.
Doleman said he will have his son, Evan, present him during the induction ceremony on Aug. 4. He said he has seen other Hall of Famers presented by their sons and can't imagined anyone else doing it.
"Come on," Doleman said. "Him and his presentation will be immortalized there forever. To have him do that and carry it on to the next generation is the only way I would want to do it."
Doleman, the fourth overall pick in the 1985 draft by Minnesota, is the 11th former Viking to join the Hall of Fame and the fifth to receive the honor in the past five seasons, joining John Randle (2010), Randall McDaniel (2009), Gary Zimmerman (2008) and Warren Moon (2006). Doleman joined Randle and McDaniel in the Vikings Ring of Honor this past season, becoming one of 19 members of the exclusive club.
"Certainly, Chris has been worthy of this honor for a long time," Paul Wiggin, former Vikings defensive line coach, said in a statement. "His sack numbers are just a part of it. Even more impressive, he had what we referred to as a 'hat trick,' which was the sack, the strip of the ball and the recovery of the fumble; probably more so than anybody in football, including Reggie White.
"There's probably no player that had more speed combined with body lean as far as being an outside rusher. He had incredible balance and body control to be able to stay on his feet and arch himself back into the quarterback, which was how he was able to create so many fumbles and big plays."
During a 15-year career, Doleman made the Pro Bowl eight times. He was drafted fourth overall by the Vikings out of the University of Pittsburgh as an outside linebacker but eventually became a defensive end as Minnesota transitioned to the 4-3 defense. Doleman is tied for ninth in NFL history with 24 fumble recovered and 45 forced fumbles.
For his work, Doleman will forever have Hall of Famer next to his name.
"It's hard to even fathom it," Doleman said. "It is truly a great honor. I mean that. It's the highest honor I've ever got. It was great to go into the Ring of Honor, but this is even higher than that."
Doleman, though, knows what Carter, who's also in the team's Ring of Honor, is going through.
"My heart goes out to all the guys," Doleman said. "It's an extremely difficult time. You're sitting there, and the problem I think the offensive guys are running into, is there are so many offensive guys in there. It basically played in my favor that they put defensive guys and lineman in there. You have Dawson, Willie Roaf, Cortez Kennedy, myself. Curtis Martin was the one offensive guy."
Carter has been a finalist five times but has yet to hear his name as one of the final inductees. An eight-time Pro Bowl receiver, Carter is fourth all-time with 1,101 catches. His 13,899 receiving yards rank eighth, and his 130 touchdowns receptions are fourth all-time. Along with Carter, though, receivers Reed and Brown were also finalists. All three are among the top 10 all-time in receptions, but over the past six years, only three receivers -- Jerry Rice, Art Monk and Michael Irvin -- have gained been inducted.
"I know there's and issue as far as the wide receivers," Carter said earlier this week. "It's real, but it's up to those people in the room to solve that problem. That's why the National Football League, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, that's why they have those people on that panel.
"I'm just thankful of my career. I'm thankful that I've been honored. I'm thankful that I'm one of the finalists. Every guy on that list deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. If you get on the finalist list for the Half of Fame, man, you have done something significant in the game of football."
