Three Patriots greats named semifinalists on Hall of Fame ballot

New England Patriots

Rodney Harrison advanced all the way to the finalist round last year.

A trio of Patriots greats who won multiple Super Bowls in Foxborough have once again advanced to the latest ballot for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 

Safety Rodney Harrison, defensive tackle Vince Wilfork, and kicker Adam Vinatieri were named as three of the 26 semifinalists in the running to enter Canton as part of the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026.

Harrison, Wilfork, and Vinatieri were also tabbed as semifinalists last season, with Harrison advancing all the way to the final round before once again coming up short. The selection committee will next reduce the list to 15 finalists, who will be voted on before the Super Bowl in February.

Harrison played in New England from 2003-2008, winning two Super Bowls with the Patriots in 2003 and 2004. He earned First Team All-Pro honors in his first season in Foxborough before following that up with a Second Team All-Pro nod in 2004.

The hard-hitting safety posted seven interceptions in nine postseason games with New England, including a pair in the Super Bowl XXXIX win over the Eagles.

Over his 14 years in the NFL, Harrison recorded 1,206 tackles, 34 interceptions, 30.5 sacks, 15 forced fumbles, and four touchdowns. Harrison was named as a member of both the Patriots and Chargers’ 50th Anniversary Teams, and was inducted into the Patriots’ Hall of Fame in 2019.

Speaking in December 2023, then-Patriots head coach Bill Belichick advocated heavily for Harrison’s admission into Canton. 

“Best safety I’ve coached,” Belichick said. “There’s a couple 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’s one of the best I ever coached,” Belichick added. “He certainly would be on my all-time team, without question … “Behind [Lawrence] Taylor, but he would certainly be right up there.”

Wilfork was one of the most dominant nose tackles of his generation — earning five total All-Pro accolades while also winning a pair of Super Bowl titles in New England. 

Speaking at “The Tradition” awards program earlier this month, former Patriots safety Devin McCourty also vouched for Wilfork’s Hall-of-Fame candidacy.

“I’m hoping maybe this can be the beginning of him getting that nod for being in the Hall of Fame. Hall-of-Fame-caliber player — led our team, year in and year out,” McCourty said of Wilfork. “I still remember in ’11 when we lost the Super Bowl. Our defense wasn’t that good that year. 

“And I remember we started the playoffs, he stood in front of us with a piece of paper, and he read stats off the Colts defense when they won the Super Bowl [in 2006] — how bad they were in the regular season, and he told us what we needed to do in the playoffs to change that. And that stretch was the best defense we had played all year. And that came from him, thinking about it, going home, researching it, and bringing that to the defense, just true leadership.”

Vinatieri, who booted the game-winning kicks in Super Bowl XXXVI and Super Bowl XXXVIII, spent ten of his 24 seasons with the Patriots — and holds the NFL records for points (2,673) and made field-goals (599).

 

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.