CANTON, OHIO — There are a couple of ‘must dos’ every time you travel to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. One of them is to visit Munson’s in North Canton. The other is to talk to Hall of Fame receiver Tommy McDonald.

And all you have to do is watch McDonald’s Hall of Fame induction speech to know why. He is so engaging, I have now granted him the status of Mr. Hall of Fame.

Munson’s has been shuttered, but McDonald continues to go nonstop.

McDonald stopped by the conference room we are shoehorned in at the McKinley Grand Hotel to join us for a chat on NFL.com. And not content to just be Mr. Hall of Fame, he kicked off a campaign to be Mr. Canton — or maybe the Emperor of Canton.

“Coming back here is an absolute treasure,” McDonald said. “Canton is a town that will welcome anybody. I want to come back to see all of the guys I played with and against. Canton should be the capital of the world. I always look forward to coming back.

“The people in Canton are No. 1. I may move to Canton! The reason Canton is so great is because the people of Canton are great. Make sure you write that. You are like family in Canton. That’s F-A-M-I-L-Y.”

Seriously Tommy, you sure you don’t want to run for mayor?

“I would do it,” McDonald said.

I would move to Canton just to vote for him if he did that.

– Adam Rank

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