Ken Hatfield was impressed by a video introduction shown before he addressed the Little Rock Touchdown Club on Monday at the DoubleTree Hotel in Little Rock.
Hatfield, 79, as a youth in Arkansas, as an All-America football player, as Razorbacks head coach and now a retiree, did more than thank KATV's Steve Sullivan, who put together the tribute.
"I don't know where Sully is today," Hatfield said, "but I want him at my funeral."
Hatfield was humbled again moments later when LRTD Club founder David Bazzel announced that the James Street Sportsmanship Award, which was handed out to Little Rock Southwest football players Kevone Jones and Braylon Tyler -- will be known as the Ken Hatfield Sportsmanship Award beginning in 2022.
"I'm flabbergasted more than anything else, to be honest with you," said Hatfield, who regaled the crowd of more than 400 with story after story about what matters to him most -- his belief in God, his pride in being an Arkansan, and the principles he believed in as a player and coach.
"I really came today to thank these 12 honorees," Hatfield said. "They epitomize what football has meant to me, has meant you, has meant to everybody. They represent of the best things football has to offer.
"You guys did three things. The first thing, is you always took time to be thankful to God. You realize that everybody doesn't have the opportunity to play football."
"The second thing. You learned about football, there is only one way to play, and that is I'll play my best -- this play.
"And you understand, that anything you do in football, the team comes first, the team comes first."
Monday's winners certainly abide by Hatfield's list of qualifications, and then some.
Jones and Tyler played football in 2021 after seeing their older brother -- Dailon Tyler -- get shot and killed on Dec. 24 near McCain Mall in North Little Rock.
Dailon Tyler was 18.
Jones, a sophomore, suffered serious injuries himself -- a bullet went through his stomach and exited his body -- and was at Arkansas Children's Hospital before returning to school in January.
"It was touch and go," Southwest defensive coordinator Nick Finley said. "We kept getting news from the hospital. Really when he came back, it was like, 'Let's just watch him a little bit, implement him in a little bit, a little slow."
Finley said Jones, a ninth-grader at the time, was adamant in his desire to play football.
"I said, 'Are you willing to do this?' " Finley said. "He said, 'I got this for my brother. He said I want to play and represent his brother because it's the only way he knows how to do it."
Braylon Tyler transferred in over the summer, and the two never wavered in their commitment to honoring Dailon, who played football at Joe T. Robinson.
"We're on the up and coming" Finley said. "It's about guys like Kevone that we made the strides we've needed to for off-season."
Finley said the coaches were cautious with Jones at first.
"It was one of those things, he said, 'Coach, I want to hit, I want to hit, I'm ready.'
"He was wanting to get in there, and I was like, 'We'll see.' "
Finley said Jones' doctor cleared him to play in the spring.
"We just went day by day, and if he had an issue just take it easy," Finley said.
Jones and Tyler didn't take it easy too often.
Jones finished as the Gryphons' leading tackler at safety. Tyler started at cornerback and also played at wide receiver.
"How they carried themselves," Finley said of the Jones and Tyler. "It's easy when something like that happens to hang your head, its' easy to say woe is me, this is my situation.
"And it's another to say, I'm going to honor my brother the right way. That's to play for him, and play for his remembrance. And carry on his legacy."
Jones said there was only reason to play this past season.
"It was hard to believe," Jones said of the shooting, "but like my Coach said, you've got to get over this. I dedicated it to him. That's why I played, I did it for him."
Tyler said he would like to continue playing in college.
"I want to say thank God, for the award, and I'm going to keep going," Tyler said.
That the award will continue on in Hatfield's name is a consequence of the Texas' Longhorns moving to the SEC.
And since the award was named after Street, who led the Longhorns to victory in the 1969 Big Shootout, Bazzel said some of Street's friends at Texas thought it may be time for a change.
"With Texas coming into the SEC, it's a little bit more difficult to celebrate all things Texas," Bazzel said.