The Pro Football Hall of Fame is a hallowed enough place, considering it is filled with bronze busts of the most legendary players the sport has ever had. But walking through the historic grounds in Canton, Ohio later this month may give you goosebumps for another reason.
That’s because the Hall of Fame is set to debut its A Game For Life exhibit with 4D holographic representations of football legends set to immersive, 360-degree sound in a cutting-edge theater.
That’s where Joe Namath will greet fans with his “Magic Chalkboard,” paving the way for holographic versions of George Halas and Vince Lombardi to appear and deliver motivational speeches, making you feel like you’re in one of their championship huddles.
Jim Kelly, Curtis Martin, Jim Brown and Steve Largent are some of the other Hall of Famers included in the 4D presentation. Over the three-part show, viewers/would-be players will learn how the odds are stacked against them to make the Hall of Fame. After all, there are only 303 players inducted for a reason.
Powered by 15 projectors, a healthy slice of the $2.5 million grant from the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation was used to construct this holographic theater.
And the NFL didn’t play any games when it came to putting this production together, either. Two years in the making, the Hall of Fame tabbed Immersive Artistry out of Santa Monica to spearhead the project.
Immersive’s president, Ed Jones, is an Academy Award winner for his executive-producing work on Happy Feet, having also served as an optical photography supervisor on Who Framed Roger Rabbit — so A Game For Life was in good hands. The Hall of Fame went the extra mile, grabbing Angelo Pizzo (Hoosiers and Rudy) as one of its writers for the presentation.
Beginning later this month, the show will debut free of charge with standard admission to the Hall of Fame.