Former New England Patriots defensive lineman Richard Seymour is headed to Canton, Ohio to be elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, it was announced on Thursday night.
This was the fourth time as a Hall of Fame finalist for Seymour, who spent his first eight seasons in Foxborough with New England before finishing up his career by spending four years with the Oakland Raiders. He was selected by the Patriots with the sixth overall pick in the 2001 NFL Draft out of the University of Georgia. He ranked up 357 tackles and 39 sacks in his time with New England, and finished a legendary career with a total of 496 tackles and 57.5 sacks. He was a seven time Pro Bowler, made the All-Pro Team five times, made the NFL All- Decade 2000s Team, and also won three Super Bowl Titles with the Pats while having the second most tackles for loss in franchise history in New England.
Seymour was elected into the Patriots Hall of Fame in October, and now will head into NFL immortality when the ceremony in Canton takes place in early August. New England head coach Bill Belichik advocated for Seymour to be elected into the Hall back in 2019 by writing to the HOF Selection Committee and saying, “Richard had a rare combination of size, speed, strength and athleticism. He was a smart player who understood game plans and adjustments on the field. His length, strength and quickness allowed him to match up on any offensive lineman favorably. Although primarily a defensive end in our 3-4 defense, Richard also played nose tackle. In the four-man line, Richard could play defensive end or defensive tackle depending on the situation and desired matchups. His physical and mental versatility, as well as his ability to master multiple techniques, made him dominant as an inside or outside player. As an example of his skills as a complete football player, Richard was a force on field goal blocks for us and, early in his career played on the punt return unit. Richard was effective versus the run and pass from a variety of alignments. It is extremely uncommon to see a player of his size, at any position, be capable of doing so many things so well. In addition, Richard was a well-conditioned athlete with the Patriots and he had the stamina to compete for an entire 60 minute game. Richard Seymour was unquestionably one of our key players and I do not believe we would have won three championships without him.”
