Ty Law makes passionate case for Rodney Harrison, Willie McGinest as Hall of Famers
BOSTON -- Richard Seymour was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame over the weekend. Ty Law took his own place in Canton a few years back.
As to which Patriots player from the two dynastic runs will next earn enshrinement, it's a bit unclear. But Law has some strong feelings that it should be Rodney Harrison and Willie McGinest.
Speaking with The Athletic's Jeff Howe, Law was rather blunt in explaining why both of his former teammates belong in Canton.
"Rodney Harrison should have been in the damn Hall of Fame," Law told Howe. "I think this is really going to open up a lot of doors for Rodney for how great he was. To do something that only one player in NFL history has done, Ray Lewis, with 30 interceptions and 30 sacks, but Rodney did this s--- first. How could you leave out Rodney? Rodney Harrison is not only a Hall of Famer, in my opinion, he's a first-ballot Hall of Famer."
Indeed, Harrison became the NFL's first 30-sack, 30-interception man back in 2007. At the time, it had never been done, though Lewis joined Harrison in that exclusive club in 2010.
Law also made the case for McGinest, who played with Law from 1995-2004.
"What about Willie McGinest? I think he's still got the all-time record for sacks in the playoffs because that's when the s--- counts. It's an amazing accomplishment. It's about damn time," Law said.
Harrison has been on the Hall of Fame ballot for several years, and he was a semifinalist for induction in 2020. He was not a semifinalist last year, though.
Inducted into the Patriots' Hall of Fame in 2019, Harrison also has gotten the public support for enshrinement from Bill Belichick.
"I think that Rodney Harrison 100 percent [belongs] in that conversation," Belichick said last November. "And I've coached some of the other safeties that have been enshrined in the Hall of Fame, and not taking anything away from them, but certainly, Rodney Harrison belongs in that -- he belongs in that conversation. And he certainly belongs in the conversation with other players that are already there."
McGinest -- a three-time Super Bowl champion with the Patriots -- was certainly a dominant force on those championship teams. But his lack of All-Pro accolades and such may keep voters from supporting his case for Canton. Law says that's not right.
"Throughout our careers, we gave up a lot of individual accolades and didn't care about those individual accolades for the sake of the team. That's why we were successful. We were a good team. We were winning championships," Law told Howe. "Then everybody else had like 15 guys going to the damn Pro Bowl every year, and we had to scratch, scrape and claw for everything. We had an appreciation for it, don't get me wrong, but know that we had good players, too. You can't do that without exceptional players, without Hall of Fame players. You can't have that type of success. It's not just Bill Belichick. It's not just Tom Brady. We were a team. We were a defensive team at that time."
In due time, Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski will absolutely be honored with spots in the Hall of Fame. Julian Edelman has an outside shot, too, and Vince Wilfork -- who won a Super Bowl as a rookie in 2004 and in his final year as a Patriot in 2014 -- ought to earn some consideration as well. Owner Robert Kraft will be enshrined sooner than later, too.
Yet before the Hall of Fame conversation turns toward the owner and the players who helped win the second set of Super Bowls, Law is using his status as a Hall of Famer to state he deserves some company from the teammates that helped the Patriots win the first three Lombardis.
