The Pro Football Hall of Fame continued its week of enshrinement activities for the exceptional class of 2024 on Friday night, with one of the more signature moments coming toward the conclusion of the "Enshrinees' Gold Jacket Dinner." Fittingly enough, legendary 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis – a standout member of this year's Hall of Fame class – was not only saved for last to receive his Gold Jacket, it was also bestowed upon him by another Hall of Fame linebacking legend, Mike Singletary.
While there's very clear and obvious football ties there, as Singletary coached Willis during his early years in San Francisco, it would seem incredibly difficult to find a more appropriately ferocious ex-NFL player to do the honors of officially gifting the gold to the seven-time 49ers Pro Bowler.
You can watch the special moment below, which included Willis' family gathering onstage during what was truly an awesome embrace between the two NFL greats.
The final Gold Jacket of the night goes to @PatrickWillis52! Courtesy of @HaggarCo, he received it from Hall of Famer Mike Singletary.#PFHOF24 pic.twitter.com/5wfXHaiJ5M
— Pro Football Hall of Fame (@ProFootballHOF) August 3, 2024
As the 49ers official X account aptly put it, "Gold has always looked good on you @PatrickWillis52. Congrats!"
It would be pretty hard to argue against such an assessment, as the transition from 49ers gold to Hall of Fame gold is already looking rather seamless on Willis.
Welcome to the @ProFootballHOF, @PatrickWillis52.#PFHOF24 x #FTTB pic.twitter.com/ISTJ3qFgWt
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) August 3, 2024
Since retiring in 2014, the powerful and lasting impact that the great No. 52 has left on the position was recently put into proper perspective by 49ers All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner, who's been carving out a special legacy of his own with San Francisco while carrying the torch for the franchise's talented linebacking corps.
Here's what Warner had to say:
"One of the best to ever do it," Warner said. "When you talk about linebacker play, you're always going to talk about the way the game's supposed to be played at that position, and he [Willis] did it through and through with the tenacity, the speed, the violence ... he did it at such a high level here, and that's what I'm always chasing."
Willis will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday afternoon at the Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio, putting a rather large stamp on an already impressive list of accolades that includes the NFL All-Decade team of the 2010s, the Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. 49ers Hall of Fame in 2021, and the College Football Hall of Fame in 2019.
