Former New England Patriots cornerback Ty Law wants some more company to join him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The stalwart defender doesn’t just want anybody to be enshrined, though, as he strongly believes more representatives from the first part of the Patriots’ dynasty should take up residence in Canton.
After seeing Richard Seymour get inducted into the Hall of Fame on Saturday, Law wasn’t shy about telling The Athletic’s Jeff Howe which of his other former teammates in New England should receive the same honor.
Law singled out fellow defensive back Rodney Harrison, who played with Law for two seasons with the Patriots and pointed out Harrison’s incredible feat of being one of two players in NFL history to tally 30 sacks and 30 interceptions in a career. The only other play who can lay claim to that accomplishment is Ray Lewis, who is already in the Hall of Fame.
“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 (expletive) 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.”
Harrison wasn’t the only teammate Law campaigned for to be in the Hall of Fame.
“What about Willie McGinest?” Law told Howe. “I think he’s still got the all-time record for sacks in the playoffs because that’s when the (expletive) counts. It’s an amazing accomplishment. It’s about damn time.”
Law is right. McGinest is still the record-holder for most playoff sacks with 16, which helped the outside linebacker win three Super Bow titles with the Patriots in the early 2000s. And Law believes all the winning he and his teammates did in New England should boost the résumé of those Patriots players that are still looking to get into the Hall of Fame.
“One thing you can’t take away from us is we were champions multiple times,” Law told Howe. “It’s so hard to get to the Super Bowl and win. I had an opportunity to go to four of them and win three. I have a neighbor down here in Florida in Dan Marino who went his rookie year and never went again. We learned to cherish those moments and understand who we are, what we are. 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’s wish might come true a little bit next year with Patriots owner Robert Kraft a finalist for the Hall of Fame. But that sure won’t entirely quench Law’s desire to see more of his former Patriots teammates in Canton.
