Rodney Harrison Accuses Hall of Fame of Anti-Patriots Bias

Ty Law will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Aug. 3. But he won't have any former New England Patriots teammates to celebrate with.

Indeed, the legendary cornerback will become the first player from the dynastic Patriots club that won three Super Bowls in four years (from 2001 to 2004) to reach the Hall of Fame.

Rodney Harrison, Law's teammate in 2003 and 2004, has a bone to pick with the Hall of Fame over that lack of representation.

"People don't think we have ballers," Harrison told the Boston Herald's Karen Guregian on Wednesday. "I'm like, Ty Law was the greatest defensive back I've ever played with. He's one of the best I've ever seen. Richard Seymour, Willie McGinest, Troy Brown, Kevin Faulk, these dudes were, bad, bad dudes."

Those Patriots greats, Harrison believes, are victims of the narrative that New England's success stems mostly from Bill Belichick and Tom Brady.

"They weren't just system guys," Harrison said. "It's unfair when people say, ‘As long as you had Tom and Bill,' well, ‘Dude, Tom and Bill can't get it done by themselves.' It takes a lot of really smart, great players. It's just unfortunate. It's almost a form of discrimination. People don't want to elevate us, or recognize, or acknowledge how great we are, because they're such haters. Everywhere I go, people hate on the Patriots. So we don't get credit.

"All I hear is Tom and Bill. But that's such a lazy analysis. They don't see what the team really is, and that's really frustrating because a lot of guys get cheated and don't really get the recognition they deserve."

Law himself needed three years to make the Hall of Fame despite a reputation as one of the best cornerbacks of his generation, while Harrison, Seymour and linebacker Tedy Bruschi were among the 2018 Hall of Fame finalists who didn't make the cut.

The early 2000s Patriots are somewhat of an anamoly; the 1990s Dallas Cowboys -- who also won three Super Bowls in a four-year span -- are loaded with Hall of Famers like Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin.

It's possible Law could have company if Harrison, Seymour or Bruschi get in. But until then, Harrison will stand by his belief that New England's talent often gets overlooked.

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