Fans vote Richard Seymour into New England Patriots Hall of Fame

Defensive lineman Richard Seymour, one of the most versatile and productive players in New England history, has been elected to the Patriots Hall of Fame.

On Monday morning, the New England Patriots announced that Richard Seymour will be the 30th inductee to The Patriots Hall of Fame presented by Raytheon. Seymour is the 28th player to receive the honor.

Seymour was the No. 6 overall pick when Bill Belichick selected him out of Georgia in the 2001 NFL Draft. He went on to play eight seasons with the Patriots and four seasons with the Oakland Raiders before retiring in 2013.

During his career, Seymour made seven Pro Bowls, five All-Pro teams, and won three Super Bowls. He was later named to the New England Patriots 50th Anniversary Team, the New England Patriots All-2000s Team, and the NFL 2000s All-Decade Team.

Seymour had 496 tackles, 57.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, eight fumble recoveries, and two interceptions over the course of his time in the league.

When Seymour was initially traded to the Raiders at the beginning of the 2009 season, he was extremely unhappy with landing in Oakland after spending eight productive seasons in New England. Understandably, it was quite the culture change to go from one of the winningest organizations in the NFL to one of the biggest strugglers during the 2000s.

Since retiring, Seymour and Belichick have repaired their relationship. Belichick recently penned a letter to the NFL Hall of Fame selection committee endorsing Seymour as a player and supporting his candidacy.

Seymour has been a finalist for Canton the past couple seasons and is expected to eventually get in.

For now, he’ll have to be content with earning a red Patriots jacket before getting a gold one in Ohio. He beat out former New England head coach Bill Parcells and former linebacker Mike Vrabel in the final fan vote to become the Patriots’ entrant this year.