CANTON, Ohio (AP) — Seymour Siwoff, the former owner of the NFL's official statistician, will be been honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The Hall announced Tuesday that Siwoff will receive the Ralph Hay Pioneer Award this summer for his longtime work with the NFL during his time at the Elias Sports Bureau.
Siwoff ran Elias for 67 years and the company became the league's official statistician in 1961. Siwoff remained in his role until his death in 2019. Siwoff was a semifinalist for the 2026 Hall of Fame class in the contributor category.
“Seymour used his knowledge, talent and passion for numbers to help the NFL record and preserve its history through a game-by-game, consistent application of statistics, and over time the creation of new statistics to track,” Hall of Fame president Jim Porter said in a statement. "You cannot tell the history of the NFL without its statistics, and Seymour — and his decades of work at Elias Sports Bureau — did more in that area than any other individual.”
The Ralph Hay Pioneer Award is named for the former owner of the Canton Bulldogs who hosted the NFL’s formational meeting in Canton in 1920. The award was established in 1972 and is given to recipients for “significant innovative contributions to professional football.”
There have been 11 previous winners, with the most recent being in 2024 to Spanish-language broadcaster Fernando Von Rossum.
Siwoff's grandson, Joe Gilston, will receive the award in his grandfather's honor during induction weekend on Aug. 7.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
All are invited to attend this silent, unprogrammed meeting where we listen for the spirit o… Read moreSan Mateo Quakers
Exclusive film screening in San Mateo Read moreA LITTLE FELLOW: THE LEGACY OF A.P.GIANNINI
CA Is Burning said:
NOTHING the government will do will alleviate traffic. This is simply a way to line the pockets of the unions and our government officials.
Dirk van Ulden said:
Thomas Morgan said:
Rick Bonilla said:
Thank you very much for these thoughtful comments Dr. Skelly.
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.