TAMPA, Fla. — He’s in the room where it happens.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame room.

“There’s a lot of dynamics that go on in that room,” Ira Kaufman said.

Longtime sports reporter Ira Kaufman gets Hall of Fame access with the responsibilities as the ultimate story teller.

“That’s what you’re doing,” he said,  “You’re telling the story in five minutes of a 15 year career.”

For 16 years, Kaufman has served on the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee. This year, it was a virtual room where he presented former Bucs John Lynch and Ronde Barber.

“The first thing that hits you is the responsibility,” he said. “It’s like a solemn responsibility.

As the Tampa Bay representative, Kaufman’s responsible for presenting cases for Bucs players to be elected into the Hall of Fame. He inherited the job from the late Tom McEwen, the former Tampa Tribune columnist, in 2005.

“I went up to Tom and said any advice for a first time Hall of Fame selector?” Ira said. “[He said] Yeah Kaufman, keep your mouth shut.

“You know me well enough, that is very difficult for this young boy from Brooklyn.”

He’s the pitchman. The ultimate salesman selling Hall of Fame dreams.

“Ira draws people to him because obviously he’s not afraid to take a risk,” Hall of Fame linebacker Derrick Brooks said. “Whether it’s his take on things or his picks. And at the same time, he doesn’t take himself too seriously.”

Kaufman presented Derrick Brooks for Hall of Fame selection, arguably his easiest sell. But that didn’t stop him from doing his do diligence in presenting all the facts.

“He’s well respected because people know he does his homework,” Brooks said. “When he does present, I think he does carry a lot of equity.”

It helps when the players are slam dunks, like Brooks and Warren Sapp, both first ballot Hall of Famers. Lynch has been more difficult. Ira just presented the former hard-hitting safety for the eighth-straight year. Last year’s phone call when Lynch didn’t get in was a difficult one.

“I was crushed,” Ira said. “We couldn’t even speak to each other, me and Lynch.”

This might be Ira’s last year on the committee. He’s contemplating retiring.

What a fitting way to go out, in the Super Bowl city of Tampa where the players he helped get into the Hall of Fame shined the brightest.

“I’m thinking about it, I’m thinking about it,” he said. “Fifteen  years in that room and doing a lot of presentations. It’s special."