CANTON, Ohio — Julius Peppers gets to do two of his favorite things today.

Be a part of a football team, and not say anything.

While being a man of few words is something he's done by choice as long as he's been alive, today it's by rule.

Peppers and the Class of 2024 will be greeted at today's annual Ray Nitschke Luncheon at a Canton hotel, and it is no ordinary rubber-chicken dinner.

The rules are few, and simple.

Rule 1: Only members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame are allowed in. No staffers, no agents, no teammates, no wives or partners.

Rule 2: Rookies don't speak their first year in attendance.

There is some gentle hazing at play with Rule 2, though there's a point to it. Rule 1 is by design, to make sure the rookies understand the importance of the club they're joining.

"Guys will comment about them, we'll congratulate them," legendary left tackle Anthony Munoz said, explaining the event. "We give them a lot of praise and stuff, but they'll hear that passion. Don't make this the only one you're at."

Getting the group together is one of the special things about the weekend. In addition to the seven members of the Class of 2024, the Hall expects 105 of the 183 living Hall of Famers to return this weekend. The luncheon is a long-standing tradition at the Hall. Nitschke (shown above right, alongside Sid Gillman) used to speak every year, and upon his passing in 1998, Gale Sayers recommended they name the luncheon in Nitschke's honor since it was so special to him.

And those who attend the luncheon bring back their stories; they create those connections that emphasize the exclusivity of the honor and the responsibility that comes with it.

For the 65-year-old Munoz (Class of 1998), that was meeting old-time players such as Otto Graham and Dante Lavelli.

"You know, he's a young guy," Munoz said of the 44-year-old Peppers. "The guys that I was sitting in the room and I'm like 39 years old, close to 40, I'm going, oh my goodness. Am I really part of this? We take O-line pictures together and guys that played before me, guys that played during my years and now I'm getting guys that played recently. I'm becoming one of the older guys now.

"That's pretty special."

That connection is passed from generation to generation, and was evident from the moment Peppers learned he was chosen this year.

Bruce Smith, the league's all-time sack leader with 200.0, was the man to knock on Peppers' door and bring him the news of his selection. That's one of the Hall's newer traditions.

But this luncheon is one of the older ones, having been conducted for decades.

For the 61-year-old Smith, having the opportunity to get to know Deacon Jones (who passed away in 2013) made it one of the special memories.

"I remember it well; every step of the way, it hits you," Smith said. "And that has to be one of the more prominent activities that take place that weekend. You're in the room, that means you are one of the greatest of all time. So all the people you've grown up watching, you've looked up to, you've tried to emulate, you tried to model your game after. That particular guy and so many that came before too."

Smith said that after a few conversations with Peppers, he genuinely wishes Peppers could have gotten to know Jones and could have shared those stories, which he holds dear to his heart to this day.

(Peppers shares a reverence for Jones. When he went into the Panthers Hall of Honor last fall, he was asked if Jones should get credit for the "unofficial" sacks which historians attributed to him using archival footage. Sacks didn't become an official stat until 1982, and Jones played from 1961-1974. That would bump Peppers to fifth on the all-time list with his 159.5, trailing Smith, Reggie White (198.0), Jones, and Kevin Greene (160.0). Peppers said that he believed they should.)

"I just wish he had had an opportunity to do that. I spent some time with Deacon Jones," Smith said. "But I think the reason why I spent so much time with Deacon Jones is so I can continue to tell Deacon Jones's story. And I'm trying to do my part in passing down that history and knowledge. But the man, the legend, the Hall of Famer who coined the term sack was such a dominant physical presence and a one-of-a-kind personality. So it's up to us to talk to the younger players. One day this baton will be passed to them so they can tell the story of how the term sack was coined.

"We owe a great deal to those that have come before us. And to teach it to those that will come after us. So that's the relevance, that's the importance of my being there to knock on his door. This was the first time I've ever done it and maybe the last, but Julius was certainly worthy of the Hall of Fame and my carving out the time to go down and do it. He's a special talent and a special man."

And it's not just Smith. Every new Hall of Famer has that guy they looked up to when they were young.

For former Eagles receiver Harold Carmichael, it was Steelers safety Mel Blount, whom he played with at Southern University.

That reminded Carmichael that what Peppers was entering was more than a select club.

"This is your family," Carmichael said. "This is your family, regardless of whether you have an argument or you have a disagreement on a football field. So when you have these reunions, it's always so special because you're brothers now."

And that's why the rookies don't speak at the luncheon. Those who came before them want them to hear.

"Oh my God. I would start off by telling guys, take a moment, look around, and look at the history of this game because either you watched them play or played against them," former Vikings defensive tackle John Randle said. But this is what the history of this game is about. And this room shows blood, sweat, and tears, and welcome to a fraternity that you can't be cut and betrayed from.

"What an honor, and get ready to be part of something so great."

Randle wells up while talking about meeting Alan Page, and not knowing what to say when the legendary Vikings defensive lineman and retired Minnesota Supreme Court judge said he came to hear him.

"To hear him tell me that he was there to hear me give my speech, . . . wow, man," Randle began. "I grew up watching him play football, and for him to tell me that it brought all my emotions out. To know that you were part of something that you didn't intend to be a part of, you love playing the game. But all of a sudden, to be a part of something so great, I was just. . ."

Former Saints left tackle Willie Roaf (who still marvels as he recalls watching Peppers and Ronald Curry playing basketball for UNC when they appeared in the NCAA tournament in New Orleans) remembers getting his orientation from former Broncos running back Floyd Little.

But coming to these events, having a chance to meet legendary offensive linemen like Bob St. Clair or Forrest Gregg, or legendary backs like Jim Brown and Sayers moved Roaf to emotions.

"It's just an eyes wide open moment, where it's like, whoa, I'm here," he said.

Roaf said was a Steelers fan growing up (as opposed to all the Cowboys fans he grew up near in Arkansas), so being able to meet Joe Greene, Franco Harris and Terry Bradshaw took him back to his childhood. So he had advice for Peppers as he walked into that room today.

"Enjoy it. Enjoy the moment, enjoy being in it," Roaf said. "Understand there's a bigger purpose, and there's an accountability that comes with it."

For quarterback Warren Moon, that moment came when he met Roger Staubach, Terry Bradshaw, and Joe Namath.

"Now, all of a sudden, I'm one of them," Moon said with a grin. "And it just, I'm still in awe when I go in the room with all of them. I'm a part of this team, and I think a lot of guys will tell you the same thing, even though they probably felt like they deserve to be here. It's still an unreal feeling to be a part of it."

For recent inductee LeRoy Butler, it was Drew Pearson. He recalled growing up with a Drew Pearson shirt — not a jersey; his family couldn't afford that. So, walking into that luncheon and meeting Pearson was moving for him.

"When I saw Drew Pearson, I got emotional because growing up, I was a Cowboy fan," Butler said. "And to me, Roger Staubach is the goat, but 88, to me is a part of my DNA and part of my life. When they lost a game, I used to cry.

"I had T-shirts with Drew Pearson on it. It wasn't a jersey because I was in poverty, and my sister drew an 88 on the shirt so I could be like Drew Pearson. And now I can just pick up the phone and call him. It's truly amazing. It's overwhelming. And sometimes you say, do I belong here?"

Butler also respects Peppers as a peer now, mentioning their link as former Packers legends.

"Pep is a humble giant, but he represents the culture," Butler said. "He's a guy that doesn't like to brag, he don't do no celebration dances. He just does it the right way. We're so happy that he made it."

That quiet nature will serve Peppers well today, even though it's not his choice (this time).

Today, Peppers will just listen, learn, and absorb.

And realize that he's now a part of that history, and it's his to share with future generations.

"The Nitschke Luncheon, I think that's where you start hearing the passion, you start hearing the passion of those that come back and make it special," Munoz said. "Don't stay away. You know, you hear guys like Bobby Bell who, prior to the Hall of Fame paying for us to come in, as soon as the Hall of Fame weekend was over, he would schedule to come back on his own, and he hasn't missed one in 30 plus years, maybe close to 40 years that he's been in.

"You hear those types of individuals talking about the passion of what it means to be a Pro Football Hall of Famer and what it means to come back with your fellow Hall of Famers. Because there are some guys that you see Hall of Fame induction weekend, and then you look for them at the luncheon, and they're nowhere to be found. So they'll hear the passion."