Seau became eligible for election into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015; his eligibility was not accelerated due to his death from the standard five-year waiting period after a player's retirement. On January 31, 2015, Seau was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He had wanted his daughter, Sydney, to introduce him if he were ever to be inducted. However, the Hall of Fame cited a five-year policy of not allowing speeches for deceased inductees, denying Sydney the opportunity to introduce her father. Instead, she was allowed to speak onstage for three minutes uninterrupted on the NFL Network, and delivered a pared down version of her full speech, which "The New York Times" published. Seau is the first player of Polynesian and Samoan descent to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.