Bill Belichick Lobbies For Rodney Harrison To Make Hall Of Fame

FOXBORO, Mass. — If it were up to Bill Belichick, Rodney Harrison already would be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

However, enshrinement thus far has eluded Harrison, who earlier this week was named a Hall of Fame finalist for the first time. The Hall of Fame will announce its 2024 class on Feb. 8.

Harrison joined the Patriots in 2003 after spending nine seasons with the then-San Diego Chargers. He went on to win two Super Bowls in New England while establishing himself as one of the best safeties not just in Patriots history, but in football history.

Belichick routinely gushes over Harrison whenever given the opportunity. And that trend continued Friday morning when New England’s head coach was asked about Harrison’s Hall of Fame candidacy.

Here’s everything Belichick said:

“Best safety I’ve coached. And there’s a couple of other ones that I’ve coached that are in the Hall of Fame. Fantastic player, person, great competitor, could do it all. One of the most versatile players I’ve ever coached. He could cover — he really could play corner. He was a great blitzer, he was a great tackler. He was really, really, really hard to block in the running game, as a blitzer, kickoff coverage, things like that. He was very explosive — he was 220 pounds, whatever he was. But I mean, he was a thumper. He was a contact player. But ran well, very instinctive. Did a great job of disguising coverages. Worked well with his teammates, with Eugene (Wilson) and some different safeties we had back there through his career.

“He’s just a heck of a football (player). He was one of the best I’ve ever coached. He’d certainly be on my all-time team, without question — behind (Lawrence) Taylor. But I mean, he would certainly be, you know, he’d be right up there.

“Tremendous player. Great practice player, too. Made everybody else on the team better. If you practiced against him, you got better or you got embarrassed — one of the two. He brought a level of competitiveness, intensity, focus and brought a higher level of practice to the team, which helped everybody. There was a lot of things that don’t ever show up in the stats or anything like that. But tremendous, tremendous respect for what he did as a player, what he brought to our team, how much he meant to our team, and you know, what we lost when we lost him. I mean, we lost a great, great player Monday through Monday. It wasn’t just on Sunday, what he brought to the team every day of the week, every day he walked into the building, every time he stepped on the field was all positive and impressive.

“So certainly, I hope he gets recognized. I think he definitely deserves it. This guy’s a great football player and a great teammate.”

Belichick also touched on Matthew Slater’s Hall of Fame candidacy and offered more insight into his “all-time team” — which, yes, includes Tom Brady.

You can click here to view his full Friday press conference.