There’s a real opportunity to get recognition for a Youngstown resident as an inductee into the Ford Hall of Fans associated with the Pro Football Hall of Fame in nearby Canton.

Ray Prisby is one of six football fanatics (fan is short for fanatic) nominated for induction into the Ford Hall of Fans. If he is one of the winners, not only will he be enshrined in the fan’s display at the hall, he’ll get a trip to Super Bowl LV in Tampa, Fla., on Feb. 7.

Prisby was nominated for the award by Jim Brown, the Hall of Fame running back for the Browns who dropped by Prisby’s East Side home recently to announce his nomination to the prestigious place in the Hall of Fans.

Prisby has a world-class collection of Browns memorabilia, which includes an architectural scale model of First Energy Stadium that was commissioned by former Browns’ owner Al Lerner, a copy of a paycheck issued by the Browns to Warren football hero and NFL Hall of Fame member Paul Warfield and even a photo from the 1964 NFL Championship game that hung in former Browns owner Art Modell’s office. These are just a few of the hundreds of Browns items in his collection.

When this newspaper’s reporter asked Prisby why he should win induction to the Hall of Fans, he replied, “I should win it because the (Browns) fan base deserves it. I look at myself as the person holding on to it (the collection) for the fan base, the city of Cleveland, the Dawg Pound and the Haslams (the current owners).”

To gain the induction, Prisby needs our help. He is competing against fans from the Steelers, the Ravens, Cardinals, Cowboys and Raiders for limited spots in the Hall of Fans.

The winners will be decided by voting online at www.fordhalloffans.com/football. You can vote once a day through Feb. 1 to support Prisby’s nomination. And you can enter for a chance to win a trip to this year’s Super Bowl as well. We endorse Ray Prisby for this honor.

editorial@tribtoday.com