CANTON, Ohio — The humbled men in gold jackets entering football immortality were unmistakable. So was the endless sea of twirling yellow Terrible Towels there to greet them and the outpouring of compassion for the legend who wasn’t there.

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jerome Bettis headlined the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2015 on Saturday night, the sixth-leading rusher in NFL history turning the annual enshrinement ceremony into a de facto pep rally.

Bettis grabbed one of the ubiquitous towels synonymous with the franchise at the beginning of his speech and led a chant of “Here We Go Steelers, Here We Go” as the capacity crowd at Tom Benson Stadium — most of them clad in some variation of black-and-yellow — roared in support of the player that served as the physical embodiment of the team he helped lead to a fifth Super Bowl title in 2006.

“I really thought the Bus’ last stop was in Detroit at Super Bowl 40,” Bettis said. “But now I know the Bus will always and forever run in Canton, Ohio.”

The euphoria surrounding Bettis’ induction proved fitting on a night most of the eight-member class saw their lengthy wait to join football’s most exclusive club finally end.

Bettis wasn’t shy about his desire to follow in the footsteps of other Steeler greats already in the Hall. Many were on hand to watch, including Franco Harris, Joe Greene and Lynn Swann. Several of Bettis’ former teammates, including quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and wide receiver Hines Ward, sat in front of the stage as the Hall’s doors finally opened for the player known simply as “The Bus.”

It’s a destination made possible in part by Roethlisberger, who preserved Pittsburgh’s Super Bowl run in 2006 by tripping up Indianapolis’ Nick Harper shortly after Bettis fumbled near the Colts’ goal line in the AFC playoffs.

“Without you saving that tackle, I still might be on the doorstep brother,” Bettis said. “I owe you, for life.”

Only linebacker Junior Seau was elected in his first year on the ballot. The 12-time Pro Bowler’s induction, however, proved bittersweet, coming more than three years after he took his own life. His death and the complex fallout from it — Seau’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the NFL — set up for the evening’s most touching moment.

Hall of Fame rules about players awarded posthumously prevented Seau’s daughter from giving a full speech on her father’s behalf. Instead she spoke at length during an extended video tribute, calling her dad “a perfect match for football: both stubborn, both relentless, competitive and hard-hitting.”

Those hard hits are at the center of the family’s legal battle with the league, though Sydney Seau used the stage to instead pay homage to his spirit. She fought back tears when his bronze bust was unveiled and told him “congratulations, you made it” as images of Seau in his prime flashed on the video screen.