ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Tom Flores laughed an uneasy laugh after he was named a first-time finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame a few weeks ago.
Sure, he was ecstatic and honored to be so close to that elusive gold jacket and bronze bust reserved for the game's immortals. But the former Raiders coach was also cautious.
"I'm in the room," Flores said with joy from his Palm Desert home, before his tone turned serious. "We'll see what they think of me in the room."
Yes, it's called getting "in the room," a sequestered place in the host Super Bowl city (Atlanta this year) where the 48-person Hall selection committee meets for as long as nine-plus hours on the day before the Super Bowl to discuss the merits of the finalists and elects a class.