A giant congratulations to former Patriot great Andre Tippett for his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame tonight. This one is extra special for me, and many other Patriots fans, that followed the team in the Tippett years (1982-1993). Although younger fans may not realize there was a time when the Pats didn’t just fail to dominate the NFL, but were routinely dominated, Tippett was one of the few bright spots we could always hang out hats on. “The L.T. of the AFC”, he played his entire career in New England, has a franchise record 100 sacks, and was a member of the 1980’s all-decade team. He also holds the record for most sacks by a linebacker in consecutive years (35) and was a 5-time Pro Bowl selection and 2-time 1st Team All-Pro. His induction is not just well deserved, it’s long overdue. He will have many Pats joining him in Canton in the future (Belichick, Brady, Seymour, Law and Vinatieri to name a few) but for now he and John Hannah are the only "true" Patriots in the HOF. This means he is likely the last Patriot of the pre-Belichick era to earn enshrinement (though Geno Cappelletti and Bruce Armstrong both deserve some consideration). Although we may not have always had great teams, and they never won a Super Bowl during his career, Andre Tippett is proof that it wasn’t all bad around here either. Thank you for making us proud Tip!
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Random sidenote...it seems to me that a sack-master with a black belt in karate should have had some sort of awesome nickname. I was trying to figure out if I was just drawing a blank on it, but I think it was just "Tip". Pretty lame.
Good speach.
Who's the next Patriot to go in?
I vote Ty Law...but I guess it just depends who retires first since there are a handful of guys I'd consider automatic.
I guess Irving Fryar has a decent shot...though I wouldn't really consider him a true "Patriot"...the football HOF doesn't have guys go in with a specific team so there would be no need to choose. He doesn't seem like a HOF player to me but his stats are up there. Guys like Andre Reed would certainly need to get in first though.
Do you think Ben Coates has a shot? What about Vinateri? (I was surprised to read that there is only one kicker and no punters in the HOF).
Technically there are 4 kickers, and 1 punter.
George Blanda QB/kicker
Paul Hornung HB/kicker
Lou Groza OT/kicker
Jan Stenerud kicker
Yale Lary DB/punter
Sammy Baugh is in as a QB but he led the league in punting 4 years in a row (1940-43). And after looking through some stats it looks Baugh was a better punter than QB. He has the record for highest single season avg(51.4), 2nd in career avg (45.1).
1st true punter into the hall Jeff Feagles? Sean Landeta?
Next Patriots options for the Hall..
Stanley Morgan- 557 rec, 10716 recv yards, 72 TDs, 4x pro bowler (not C. Carter but good numbers)
Bruce Armstrong-6x pro bowler, 2x all pro
Ben Coates- 499 rec, 5555 rec yds, 50 TDs, 5x pro bowlers, 90's all decade team..Dave Casper is in and he has 121 less rec, 339 less rec yards, and only 2 more TDs. Coates has more TDs than Ozzie Newsome who is already in the HOF.
GMAC, good call on the guys who also kicked. Stenerud (I believe) is the only "only" kicker and there are no "only" punters. Ray Guy will be the first if one ever gets in.
I think Vinatieri is a slam dunk.
Stanley Morgan is comparable to Dewey to me...underrated when they played, so not enough individual accolades on their resume when it comes time for the Hall voting.
It will be interesting to see if Armstrong gets any consideration. Bruce Smith considered him the best tackle he played against, but he is also an offensive lineman on bad teams, which are usually not a group that gets highly recognized.
A guy at work today brought up some guys: Bruschi, McGinest and Rodney, who are possibilities. I don't see any of them getting in though. Harrison is the only player ever with 30 sacks and 30 picks though...if he can become the first 40/40 man he may be tough to leave out. I do think the HGH issue may come back to haunt him (even if just used as an excuse) down the road though.
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