Guregian: Hall of Fame missing the boat on Richard Seymour

Richard Seymour is still waiting.

The three-time finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame remains on the outside looking in.

And that’s a shame.

Hall of Fame voters have missed the proverbial boat with Seymour, who wasn’t selected for the incoming Class of 2021. Maybe he gets in next year, with fewer first-ballot types filling out the five spots available for Modern Era candidates.

Peyton Manning, Calvin Johnson and Charles Woodson were viewed as automatic first-year entries by voters this time around, while John Lynch and Alan Faneca, previous long-time candidates, were also voted in.

It’s hard to believe newly eligible nominees like quarterback Tony Romo, wide receivers Anquan Boldin and Andre Johnson, defensive end DeMarcus Ware, or even former Patriots nose tackle Vince Wilfork will get in on the first ballot next year.

So maybe 2022 will finally be the year for Seymour. But it still doesn’t seem right for him to not have a gold jacket at this stage.

Perhaps his career sack numbers (57.5) aren’t high enough for stat-crazed voters. And yes, while numbers are an important part of the package, watching him play and dominate the line of scrimmage should also be an indicator of his worthiness.

Watching Seymour’s game film tells the best story, because it’s a Hall of Fame story.

Several years back, Ty Law, who also had to wait a while before gaining entry, talked about a Patriot bias among voters.

In Law’s view, because the success of the Patriots has largely been attributed to Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, it marginalized the role of others. That thinking, if true, does a disservice to so many other important cogs in the first run of championships, especially members of the defense.

Like Seymour, former defenders such as Rodney Harrison, Willie McGinest and Tedy Bruschi, all Pro Bowlers and members of the Patriots Hall of Fame, don’t seem to have a chance in Canton.

Something’s not right when players with multiple Super Bowl rings from a football dynasty barely get considered.

Not to pick on Lynch, but the Tampa team he was with for most of his career (1993-2003) also has Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks in the Hall. How many rings did that Buccaneers team win? One.

Seymour has three and was an integral part of the Patriots dynasty. And how many Hall of Famers do the Patriots have from that first wave that won three Super Bowls in four years?

One. That’s Law.

The Pittsburgh Steelers dynasty of the ’70s has no less than 10 players, plus head coach Chuck Noll, in the Hall.

Is one dynasty more worthy than the other? Because the Patriots, unlike any other modern-era franchise, stretched their dominance over two decades.

Obviously, Brady, who spans the entire path of championships, will be inducted without debate. Rob Gronkowski will make it as arguably the game’s best tight end, and eventually, so will Belichick.

But who else will be deemed as worthy from the early teams?

If not Seymour, Harrison, McGinest or Bruschi, how about Adam Vinatieri? The author of the greatest kick in NFL history, and one of the best clutch kickers ever, should get in when he’s eligible. But nothing is a lock when it comes to Patriots not named Brady.

Seymour, while a finalist three times, still can’t make the cut. And it’s not because important people haven’t taken up the fight to open eyes to Seymour’s value and greatness. Plenty of well-respected people have gone to bat for Seymour, who was with the Patriots for eight seasons before finishing his career with the Raiders.

This is what Brady said of Seymour on his Instagram account: “Not only was he a dominant player but a team-first, selfless player who played championship football each & every week. He was a cornerstone of the Patriots dynasty & deserves to be recognized for his contributions to football history.”

Former Patriots executive Scott Pioli, who drafted Seymour, also pumped up the defensive lineman’s candidacy.

Pioli tweeted that he hoped that those casting ballots would at least “consider his dominance that did not always reflect in his stats.”

That was the precursor to him writing a piece on NFL.com detailing Seymour’s Hall-worthy traits. Pioli described the beauty of having Seymour in a defense beyond his seven Pro Bowls, three first-team All-Pros, and three championship rings.

Belichick also wrote to the 48-member Hall of Fame Selection Committee that he considered Seymour “one of the best defensive lineman” he had ever coached. And yet, he’s still waiting.

And this time around, one rival GM spoke up on Seymour’s behalf and described how he made life miserable for his offense. Only, the wait continues.

Naturally, Seymour isn’t going to complain. He’s not going to argue that many of the voters don’t understand a star player doing what was best for the team over achieving individual stats or numbers.

Seymour has too much class to point fingers. He’s been nothing but gracious at every turn. A few weeks ago, he called the process fun, and thought he might be getting closer to having a place in Canton.

“I always feel like this is a fun time,” he told the Herald. “I look at it as a tremendous honor, whether it was my first year, this year, whenever, it’s just part of the process.”

A process that hasn’t given him the necessary votes because he chose to adhere to team values and sacrifice for the greater good.

Sometimes stats shouldn’t rule. It’s glaring in Seymour’s case. Too bad Hall voters haven’t caught on.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3aVSqBd