CANTON, Ohio -- Check Terry McLaurin's Instagram story Wednesday night, and you'll see a replica of Jerry Rice's locker with the caption "Chasing greatness" along with his location.
McLaurin was at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, visiting the NFL's mecca with his Redskins teammates ahead of their preseason opener against the Cleveland Browns. Before him was the uniform of perhaps the greatest wide receiver in NFL history.
How's that for motivation before your professional debut?
"I want to be one of the greatest if not the greatest to play this game," McLaurin told Redskins.com. "That's the way I practice, that's the way I approach the game. Just to see a guy like that do as much as he did for the game -- and he wasn't necessarily the fastest, wasn't the biggest wasn't the strongest -- but he was very particular in the way he played and he executed, and you knew he was going to make plays on Sunday."
Check out photos from the Redskins tour of the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Wednesday August 7th, 2019.
The evening began with a buffet-style dinner and opening remarks from David Baker, the president and CEO of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Baker detailed the history of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which opened in 1963, as well as its inductees. He also honored those in attendance for their accomplishment of making it to the NFL. Those in attendance Wednesday night were a few of the 29,000 people to have ever been paid to play, coach or officiate in the NFL, Baker said.
Afterwards, players coaches and members of the Redskins front office split into groups to explore the facility. The tour included a 17-minute video, narrated by Super Bowl III MVP Joe Namath, that chronicled some of the greatest players and coaches in professional football history.
Next came a room that included busts from every Pro Football Hall of Famer, and quarterback Dwayne Haskins couldn't help but stop and admire the sculpture of Warren Moon, who became the first African American quarterback inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006.
Haskins, who first visited Canton when he was around 12 years old, enjoys seeing all of the statistics, old jersey and championship rings. But he's especially intrigued with the Hall of Fame signal-callers and their path to greatness.
"It reminds you of why you play football," Haskins said.
After more perusing, the players settled into a small movie theater to watch a "Road to the Super Bowl" presentation about the 2018 campaign. The video covered the best moments from the regular season and into the playoffs, then honed in on the Super Bowl and concluded with the New England Patriots hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.
Months have passed since then, however, and everyone is undefeated entering 2019. The Redskins' path to greatness starts Thursday in Cleveland.
"You see these great teams, and we hope to be one of those great teams this season," McLaurin said. "We came from the Super Bowl exhibit, and if you're not inspired by that, this game's not for you. Just to see the process of what you go through and those long summers is to get to the process of the season and hopefully get to the Super Bowl, so that's what we're shooting for."
