Maybe the first thing to remember about the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame is that it isn’t just the Hawaii Football Hall of Fame.

So, when a guy like Luther Elliss gets voted in, we shouldn’t be surprised. University of Hawaii fans remember him as a Rainbow Warrior nemesis when he starred at Utah. And since Elliss didn’t play high school ball here, not that many of us knew he was of Samoan ancestry. After college, Elliss had a fine NFL career and is certainly highly deserving of his place in the Class of 2015, the second annual group of six PFHOF inductees.

The others, announced this week and to be enshrined in January on Oahu, are more well known to Hawaii football fans: Russ Francis, Jesse Sapolu, Ray Schoenke, Mosi Tatupu and Mark Tuinei.

The exploits of all will be detailed in the coming months. And all are legendary in their own right.

The one most interesting today is Francis. I am among many surprised to learn that Francis might not be of Polynesian ancestry. I’d always assumed he was part Hawaiian.

"One-hundred percent German on my father’s side. Portuguese on my mother’s," Francis told me Thursday. "I think there’s some Hawaiian, but we don’t know. So when the committee asked me if I had Polynesian, I just said, ‘No.’"

Does it matter if he is or not for sure? Not to me, and I’m glad that it doesn’t matter to the selection committee.

Also, it should be noted that the PFHOF is not breaking or even bending any of its own rules if Francis is not Polynesian; he enters as a coach/contributor and in that category ethnicity is not a requirement.

Francis’ father, Ed, came from Chicago. He became a local celebrity via pro wrestling. Russ said that on his mother’s side his family has now been here at least five generations.

For those who think there must be a provable blood quantum, consider this: For several years in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Francis was the high-profile face of Polynesian football in the NFL.

There were many talented Polynesian players before him and since, but those who preceded him were mostly interior linemen and did not have Howard Cosell touting him as an "All-World" tight end when he emerged as a star with the Patriots.

It’s kind of funny if you remember that Francis couldn’t even make All-OIA as a quarterback at Kailua High. "Joe Lee at Kaimuki was a better quarterback than I," he said.

Although he graduated from high school in Oregon and went to college there, Francis made it clear he represented Hawaii when he got to the NFL.

"I don’t think they keep records on this, but I’m pretty sure I did the first shaka on TV for an NFL game," said Francis, who made three Pro Bowls. "Mosi and I were considered the crazy Hawaiians because the other guys on the Patriots didn’t know what we were, just that we were from Hawaii. We’d get sashimi mailed to us in cold boxes and we’d open it in the locker room. The other guys saw us eating it and ran to the bathroom.

"No one ever took our lunch."

Francis’ free spirit included contracts that allowed him to wrestle, skydive and fly planes. But he was serious about competing, and he was serious about his brotherhood with teammates … he retired over the Patriots’ threat to take away medical benefits from his roommate, Darryl Stingley, one year after Stingley was paralyzed in a preseason game.

"I was done, but Bill Walsh talked me into coming back," he said.

With the 49ers, with Sapolu as a teammate, Francis helped win a Super Bowl after the 1984 season.

"I am so very proud, lucky, and humbled to have known and to have taken the field of battle with (Tatupu and Sapolu) so many times over the years in the NFL," Francis said. "Now I am bonded with them again, along with all the inductees, in the brotherhood of Polynesian football players."

Sometimes there are other ways besides paperwork to verify heritage and ohana.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.