A standout defender, an elite offensive lineman or a legendary head coach? That’s the choice New England fans will need to make when voting for the next Patriots Hall of Famer.
The Patriots on Thursday announced the three finalists for this year’s Hall of Fame class: linebacker Mike Vrabel, guard Logan Mankins and head coach Bill Parcells.
The finalists were selected last week by the franchise’s Hall of Fame committee. An online fan vote, which runs through May 2, will determine the winner.
All three candidates have been finalists before.
For Vrabel, it’s his seventh consecutive year in the final three, having lost out to Vince Wilfork, Richard Seymour, Rodney Harrison, Matt Light, Raymond Clayborn and Kevin Faulk on the previous six ballots. The current Tennessee Titans head coach played key roles on the Patriots’ first three Super Bowl championship squads and was part of the franchise’s All-2000s Team, 50th Anniversary Team and All-Decade Team.
Mankins is a finalist for the second consecutive year. He never won a Super Bowl — he arrived in New England after its third title in 2004 and was traded before its fourth in 2014 — but was one of the best interior O-linemen of his era, making six Pro Bowls, one All-Pro first team and five All-Pro second teams with the Patriots.
This is the fifth time on the final ballot for Parcells, who previously was a finalist in 2011, 2012, 2016 and 2020. He returned the Patriots to respectability in the 1990s and won an AFC championship in 1996. The last individual from before the Bill Belichick era to be voted into the Patriots Hall of Fame was Clayborn in 2017.
Vrabel, Mankins and Parcells were chosen from a pool of nominees that also included wide receiver Wes Welker and safety Lawyer Milloy, among others.
Longtime assistant coach Dante Scarnecchia also will be inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame this summer, with team owner Robert Kraft selecting him for enshrinement as a contributor.
