Last week, we asked NBC Chicago readers to share their favorite memories of Richard Dent, the legendary defensive end who will be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday. The readers' memories encompassed both Dent's on-the-field heroics and his actions off it. Here they are:
"I was a contestant on Wheel of Fortune for the NFL Players week - January, 2003; my NFL player was the one and only Richard Dent. Together, we won big...my take home was $16,000 which WOF matched for his charity! It was truly a great time! Also, I still have the Chicago Bears jersey that I wore on the show and he autographed it for me! Great guy!" -- Donna Hammond Butts
"Monday Night Football against the 49ers, leaping over an offensive lineman and sacking Joe Montana" -- John Suerth
"I waited on him at a restaurant, he was incredibly polite and generous." -- Ryan Anthony Ambrose [Ed. note -- how great is it to hear that he's a good tipper?]
"85 NFC Championship against the Giants. 3.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 7 tackles... then going on to be Super Bowl XX MVP?!?! Absolute BEAST! All on a $90,000 base salary. Wake up NFL, that's REAL MAN FOOTBALL!" -- Charles Adkins
"My 28-year-old son did a photo shoot with him at Harry Caray's through Mt. Greenwood park when he was 9 or 10 years old." -- Mary McKeon
"Spending part of an evening with him in London, the week before the Bears played the Cowboys in an August 1985 exhibition game. I was at a nightclub with several fellow American law students, and a group of Bears players came in followed by a smaller group of Cowboys. I bumped into him at the bar and, after talking to him a bit, he came and joined our group for about 90 minutes, then returned to his teammates." -- Ken Swanson
"When he sacked the quarterback of the New England Patriots during the Super Bowl. That was a Kodak moment." -- Carolyn A. Centeno-Frye
"When he asked me out in front of my dad!" -- Sarah Riebe
For this writer, I will never forget watching the Super Bowl Shuffle, then seeing him do exactly what he sang about: put guys on their ... (whistle!)
