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Kansas Sports Museum hosts exhibit from Pro Football H.O.F.

July 19, 2010|By Jenn Bates

{NEWTON, Kan.} — If you're traveling north on I-135 and get off on exit 28 just outside Newton, Kansas, you'll see a strip mall with a few stores scattered about.  There's also a movie theater and a sports bar tucked inbetween the outlet shops.  But just past the movie theater and an empty space for lease sits a little bit of history just inside the Kansas Sports Museum.

"A lot of people have told me they've gotten a little emotional when they first saw the exhibit.  I was one of them," says museum manager Harold Bechard.  It's entitled Pro Football and the American Spirit:  An Exhibit from the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  The traveling exhibit just made its way to Newton almost a month ahead of schedule.  Highlighting the dichotomy of the athlete turned soldier and vice-versa, this exhibit documents the bravery certain N.F.L. greats showed on the battlefields of football and war.

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From WWII to Afghanistan the exhibit shows the true courage of some of our greatest American football heroes.  You can see Hall of Famer Art Donovan's jersey right next to the career medals of General Earnest Cheatham.  The story of iconic Dallas Cowboys head coach Tom Landry is told just across from a picture of a screaming, wild-haired Pat Tillman.

It's not a large exhibit; just a few glass cases in the south hall of the museum.  And it's not exactly in the most conspicuous of places.  But the pictures, the stories and the pieces on display are enough to fill anyone with pride and emotion and make them feel like they're looking at something much bigger than themselves.

The exhibit runs through about September 26th and will only be shown at 3 museums in 2010.  All military personnel, both active and retired, will receive free admission to the exhibit.  For more information on the museum and the exhibit you can visit this website:

http://www.kshof.org/SiteResources/Data/Templates/t1.asp?docid=514&DocName=Home

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