Mills family felt warm embrace of 2022 Hall of Fame class on Thursday night

But beyond his inspirational story, the recognition from the Hall of Fame also cements Mills’ legacy as a great player.

His classmates recognized that quickly.

Boselli was in his second year in Jacksonville when he played against the Panthers in 1996, and recognized how difficult Mills was to prepare for.

“He obviously wasn’t a big guy as far as height, but he was so smart,” the legendary Jaguars left tackle said. “The anticipation of what you were trying to do was what made it so hard to block him. A lot of times if you go out there, you gauge the guy you’re playing against, ‘Oh it’s not going to be hard to go block this guy.’ And then all of a sudden they’re quicker than you can get there, because they read, they’re so smart. That was Sam Mills.

“And that was a great defense. They had a lot of veterans in that Panthers defense, and he was their leader. He was really dang good.”

Butler, the Packers safety who faced Mills and the unlikely Panthers in the 1996 NFC Championship Game, pointed to the impact Mills had on future linebackers, such as too-short fellow finalist Zach Thomas.

“Sam Mills is the reason why one day Zach Thomas will be here,” Butler said. “Because Sam Mills . . . showed kids, maybe going to the combine you’re not 6-4, 220 pounds, but you can still play, whatever size you are.

“And Tony hit it, he was smart. It was funny how quarterbacks used to try to audible to get him out of the box, and he was going nowhere. Because he knew the formation, he knew what was going on, and at that point, he gets into attack mode.

“But the reason why he is amazing, and people like Zach Thomas are going to follow him up is you don’t have to be a certain size to play in this league. You just have to be smart, and aggressive and great teammates, and just want to do it. That’s what Sam Mills was all about.”

And now, he’s a part of the family of the greatest football family ever assembled in Canton.

And his own family feels perfectly at home.