Off to the side of the locker exhibit is a smaller case, which includes his combine jersey (something the Hall doesn’t have a lot of, according to Jon Kendle, the vice president of museum and archives), and a small glass jar of soil.
That was a gift from former defensive coordinator Sean McDermott, courtesy of the grounds crew.
“It was just a symbolic thing that he always said we have to defend our dirt,” he said. “So when we’re at home, we’ve got to win our home games, we’ve got to play well on defense. It’s our job to set the tone, the tempo, and the attitude of that game on that Sunday. So he handed one to us every year, so I’ve got five or six jars from McD.
“But I always kept one of them in my locker, and it’s just something that when you’re having a day, and you look up and say, oh, here. It just comes back and centers you. And I had a ton of respect for Sean McDermott and how he called defenses, how he coached the thoughts, his thought process, preparing for games. So, I had that in my locker. It was just like a little bit of a token that helped you re-center, before practice, during games, or just during the week in general.”