CANTON, OHIO ? Hail, hail, the now-Way Over The Hill Gang was mostly all here Saturday to witness the induction ceremony for George Allen, the Washington Redskins’ quirky, consumed and focused former head coach. Allen was enshrined posthumously in the Pro Football Hall of Fame on a steamy afternoon that his son, echoing his father, described as “a great day to be alive.”

Close to 18,000 streamed into Fawcett Stadium just behind the Hall to hear Sen. George Allen, R-Va., accept the game’s ultimate honor for his father, who died of a heart attack in 1990 at age 72. Allen never had a losing season in 14 years as a professional head coach and dramatically changed the Redskins’ fortunes during his tenure from 1971 to ’77, including the first Super Bowl team in 1972.

Sen. George Allen of Virginia poses with the bust of his father, coach George Allen. The former Washington coach was inducted posthumously to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday at Canton, Ohio.

Billy Kilmer, the still furnace-faced quarterback of that memorable era, was here, and so was John Riggins, celebrating the 10th anniversary of his own induction in the Hall in 1992 and back for the first time since he was enshrined.

Redskins Hall of Famers Bobby Mitchell, Charley Taylor and Ken Houston were here, among more than 30 former Allen players and coaches from the Los Angeles Rams and Redskins, including Jack Pardee, Marv Levy, Ted Marchibroda, Ray Schoenke, Merlin Olsen, Brig Owens, John Wilber, Mark Moseley, Eddie Brown, Bob Kuziel, Dan Ryczek, Dallas Hickman and Mike Bragg.

Diron Talbert, the defensive tackle who loved to taunt the Dallas Cowboys with Allen often providing the script, came in from Texas. On Friday night, he got up on a stage at the Canton hotel where many of his old teammates were staying and played “Hail to the Redskins” on his harmonica, to thunderous applause.

Deacon Jones, who played for Allen on the Rams and for a season in Washington at the end of his career, introduced his old coach with a passionately delivered oration that began “I knew it would happen sooner or later. … The future is now.”

That was Allen’s longtime mantra with the Redskins. He arrived in 1971 after five tumultuous seasons in Los Angeles, then turned around Washington’s once bumbling, beloved team with his unorthodox methods importing a number of former Rams, trading draft choices for veteran players and emphasizing a low-risk offense, stifling defense and spectacular special teams.

That slogan, Sen. Allen said, came out of a TV interview with former Washington sportscaster Warner Wolf, who asked the new coach in 1971 why he was so optimistic about a team that had only four winning seasons since 1945.

“‘The future? The future? This team hasn’t been to the playoffs in three decades,'” Sen. Allen said, repeating his father’s response. “‘The future is now!”‘

Another Allen motto “losing is like dying” also was emphasized in a video presentation shown to the crowd, and a national ESPN audience, on a big screen before Jones got to the podium.

But Jones said Allen’s success was based on “teamwork, hard work and competitive spirit. … He was the ultimate player’s coach. … I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. … He taught us the harder we worked, the luckier we got, and boy did we get lucky. He was the best damned coach I ever had.”