The fourth time indeed is the charm for Richard Seymour.
The New England Patriots great was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Thursday as part of the 2022 class. It was Seymour's fourth year as a Hall-of-Fame finalist.
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The Patriots drafted Seymour with the sixth overall pick in the 2001 NFL Draft. The Georgia product spent his first eight NFL seasons in Foxboro, racking up 357 tackles and 39 sacks while earning three Super Bowl titles. He played his final four years in the league with the Oakland Raiders and totaled 496 total tackles and 57.5 sacks for his legendary career.
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick penned a letter advocating for Seymour to be elected to the Hall of Fame in 2019.
"Richard had a rare combination of size, speed, strength and athleticism," Belichick wrote to the Hall of Fame selection committee. "He was a smart player who understood game plans and adjustments on the field. His length, strength and quickness allowed him to match up on any offensive lineman favorably. Although primarily a defensive end in our 3-4 defense, Richard also played nose tackle. In the four-man line, Richard could play defensive end or defensive tackle depending on the situation and desired matchups.
New England Patriots
"His physical and mental versatility, as well as his ability to master multiple techniques, made him dominant as an inside or outside player. As an example of his skills as a complete football player, Richard was a force on field goal blocks for us and, early in his career played on the punt return unit. Richard was effective versus the run and pass from a variety of alignments. It is extremely uncommon to see a player of his size, at any position, be capable of doing so many things so well. In addition, Richard was a well-conditioned athlete with the Patriots and he had the stamina to compete for an entire 60 minute game.
"Richard Seymour was unquestionably one of our key players and I do not believe we would have won three championships without him."
Seymour was inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame in October. Now, he'll finally achieve NFL immortality.