Patriots
“Rodney Harrison to me, he’s one of the greatest football players the league has ever seen.”
Count Tom Brady as the latest Patriots legend to vouch for Rodney Harrison’s candidacy in Canton.
The three-time All-Pro safety and two-time Super Bowl champion was named one of 15 finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024 in December — standing as the closest that the hard-hitting defensive back has come to enshrinement.
But Harrison once again came up short in the voting process two months later in his 11th year of eligibility.
Speaking on the “DeepCut with VicBlends” podcast last week, Brady heaped plenty of praise toward Harrison and his viability as a Hall-of-Fame enshrinee.
“I’ll say, underrated teammate — Rodney Harrison to me, he’s one of the greatest football players the league has ever seen and doesn’t get the recognition,” Brady said. “He should be in the Hall of Fame. He was as good a competitor, defensive player, smart, tough, physical, (expletive) mean out there on the field. I loved it, and I loved playing with him.”
In his career, Harrison recorded 1,206 tackles, 34 interceptions, 30.5 sacks, 15 forced fumbles, nine fumble recoveries and three defensive touchdowns in the regular season.
He’s one of just two players in NFL history with 30 career interceptions and 30 career sacks; with Hall-of-Famer Ray Lewis being the other player.
Harrison also delivered in the postseason, recording 75 tackles with seven interceptions, two sacks, and two forced fumbles over 13 career playoff games.
In December, Bill Belichick also spoke highly of Harrison for his ability to excel in several different roles within New England’s defense.
“Best safety I’ve coached,” Belichick said. “There’s a couple of other ones that I’ve coached that are in the Hall of Fame. But fantastic player, person, great competitor, could do it all, and was one of the most versatile players I’ve ever coached. He could cover, he really could play corner. He was a great blitzer, a great tackler. He was really, really hard to block in the running game, as a blitzer, kickoff coverage, and things like that.
“He was very explosive, 220 pounds or whatever he was, he was a thumper. He was a contact player. He ran well, very instinctive, did a great job disguising coverages, worked well with his teammates [like] Eugene [Wilson] and some different safeties we had back there through his career.”
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