A 20-person nomination committee selects Raymond Clayborn, Kevin Faulk and Mike Vrabel as the 2016 Patriots Hall of Fame finalists. Patriots fans now have until May 14 to vote for the nominee most deserving of hall of fame honors.
Source: Patriots 2016 Hall of Fame Finalists announced | New England Patriots
Tough, tough choice here. Raymond Clayborn’s number’s don’t lie but most of us are guilty of recency bias and seeing two legends like Kevin Faulk and Mike Vrabel up there really pulls the attention away. Clayborn’s been nominated for his third-straight time, so it’s kind of now or never for him. He should probably be the guy right now, but is likely to once again be overshadowed by guys who helped the Pats win multiple Super Bowls.
But if we ignore Clayborn for a moment, as most new-ish Patriots fans are doing, how do you choose between Faulk and Vrabel? Both had so many huge plays in huge games that easily and immediately come to mind. Can you really say which was more valuable to the dynasty? I’d argue for Faulk that his value really spiked later in his career, like 2006-2009, though he broke 1000 yards from scrimmage in 2000 and 2003. 2008 he was vital to helping Matt Cassel with the third-most yards-from-scrimmage of his career.
As for Vrabel, I can’t lie. He’s one of my all-time favorite Pats and as we all know now, maybe the smartest player to ever play for Belichick. And the way he came to the team, as a Steeler castoff, only makes him really embody a huge part of what has made the Belichick Pats so good. The clutch Super Bowl touchdowns, the big sacks, playing any position on defense just about, Vrabel did it all and did it all at a high level.
In some ways I feel like Vrabel and Faulk are the flip side of the same coin. Somewhat unsung and under-appreciated but unquestionably the kind of players that the dominance of the 2000s was built on. While I think Vrabel probably wins the vote and gets into the HOF, Faulk shouldn’t have to wait long.