Ty Law’s birthday reminds us dynasty Patriots deserve more Hall of Famers

The last two months have been pretty rough for Patriots fans, as former quarterback Tom Brady’s latest championship run has resulted in many pundits jumping the gun to belittle head coach Bill Belichick’s overall importance to the dynasty.

That’s an incredibly reactionary take when you consider the sheer discrepancies in talent between the Patriots and Buccaneers, but we’ll save that conversation for a later date.

What matters is that recency bias is king and New England’s shortcomings this season couldn’t have come at a worse time for Belichick, who was easily the most instrumental member of the dynasty in terms of putting those six championship teams together.

In fact, if you take a look back at the early stages of the dynasty, there really should be more members of them in the Hall of Fame. Believe it or not, former cornerback Ty Law, who’s celebrating his 47th birthday on Thursday, is somehow the only member of the 2001-2004 Patriots who has a bust in Canton.

More dynasty Patriots should be in the Hall of Fame.

That is downright criminal, and we say that with zero intention of disrespecting Law‘s decorated career. He was one of the best defensive backs of his generation and his inclusion on the All-2000s Hall of Fame Team — to go with five Pro Bowls and two All-Pro nods — proves that. However, he was far from the only dominant member of those early 2000s Patriots teams.

Take somebody like Richard Seymour, for instance. Over his 14-year career, he compiled 498 tackles, (91 for loss), 57.5 sacks, 79 QB hits and eight fumble recoveries. Patriots fans know that the former seven-time Pro Bowler’s arrival in 2001 was immense and we would assert that he was the most important component of those suffocating defenses.

You could even make the case for safety Rodney Harrison and linebacker Willie McGinest, who’s still the NFL’s all-time leader in postseason sacks, getting in. Both players won three rings and their individual accolades speak for themselves in terms of deserving election.

Our gut tells us they’ll eventually get in, and the same can be said for world-beating defensive tackle Vince Wilfork, who has two championships on his resume and is widely regarded as one of the most dominant interior lineman in league history. However, given that his stats don’t scream Hall of Fame, he’ll likely join his former teammates in waiting to receive his due when he appears on the ballot for the first time in 2022.

Though we believe Seymour, Harrison, McGinest, and Wilfork will all eventually join Law in Canton, it still doesn’t sit right knowing that four prominent members of the greatest dynasty in league history didn’t (or won’t) get an automatic bid in their first year of ballot eligibility.

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