Rodney Harrison Inducted Into Patriots Hall Of Fame

FOXBORO (CBS) -- When Rodney Harrison strolled through the plaza outside of The Hall at Patriots Place on Monday afternoon, the late-afternoon temperature sat around 90 degrees. An afternoon downpour made for extremely humid conditions. It was not an ideal day to be given a jacket.

Nevertheless, Patriots owner Robert Kraft was delighted to hand the newest red jacket to Rodney Harrison, signaling the former safety's enshrinement into the Patriots' Hall of Fame and also correcting a mistake made by Harrison during his first visit to Foxboro.

"After nine seasons in San Diego, Rodney Harrison came here to New England for a free-agent visit, on March 13, 2003. He arrived at Logan Airport wearing shorts and a T-shirt. It was 35 degrees in Boston that day," Kraft recalled. "Today, 16 years later, I think it's time we finally give Rodney a jacket.

During his speech to the crowd gathered on the plaza, Harrison offered a series of thanks to family, former teammates and former coaches. He also offered some comments that were distinctly Rodney.

"I don't apologize for knocking your head off," Harrison told Troy Brown, regarding some over-the-top physicality in some of Harrison's earliest days on the practice field. "I would do it all over again, Troy."

Harrison directed a comment at another former Patriots receiver, too.

"I'm happy for you even though you stole my Super Bowl MVP," Harrison said to Deion Branch. "Because we know, defense wins championships."

That comment drew a laugh from Bill Belichick.

"You know Rodney mentioned that he was a captain before he even played a game, and you can see why," Belichick said after Harrison's own speech. "The leadership, the passion for football, the way he connects with people and connects with people, how unselfish he is, what a great teammate. There it is right there. That's what I saw the whole time he was here, and Rodney, I appreciate that. I really do."

Belichick offered effusive praise of Harrison as an elite player.

"He was smart. He was football smart. He was prepared. He always did the right thing," Belichick said. "Rodney, I can't even tell you how many times Romeo and I were on the sideline, and Romeo would say, 'What's Rodney doing? Where's he going?' Or I would say, 'Did Rodney get the call? Where's he lining up?' But Rodney was just disguising. And that's why Manning and those guys had so much trouble with him -- Roethlisberger, they had so much trouble with him. It looked like he was gonna blitz; then he'd be playing on the other side of the field. He was gonna be in zone, and he'd play man-to-man. He'd look like he was playing man-to-man, and he'd blitz. And he just had a great capacity for playing the game. That's the only why I can say it -- just playing the game.

"And on the field, you know, there's some guys that do some things well and other things, you know, OK. With Rodney he just did everything well," Belichick continued. "I've never really coached too many players like this who, he was great against the run. He was great at defeating blockers. He was an outstanding tackler. He could play man-to-man. He could play zone. He could play in close, short zones, and he could play in the deep part of the field. He was a tremendous blitzer; I'll say as good a blitzer as any defensive back who has ever played the game. He was simply unblockable. If I would've blitzed him more, he probably would've had 75 sacks. I mean, we couldn't block him in practice, and nobody could block him in the game. He played in the kicking game.

"Whatever we needed him to do, he did it at an elite level," Belichick said. "He did it on the practice field, he did it in the locker room, he did it off the field. And the biggest thing for me was he always did it in the big games. That's where Rodney Harrison always showed up. The bigger the game, the more impact Rodney had in it. Rodney, I'll let you and Deion fight over that MVP trophy … I do agree defense wins championships so maybe I'm a little partial here."

Harrison, 46, joined the Patriots in 2003, after spending the first nine years of his career playing for the San Diego Chargers. Harrison made his impact felt immediately, helping the Patriots to Super Bowl victories in each of his first two seasons in Foxboro. He served as a team captain for all six of his seasons in New England.

Injuries would limit Harrison to playing just 31 of a possible 64 games in his final four seasons with the Patriots. Despite that limited career, Harrison earned his spot in the Patriots Hall of Fame over finalists Richard Seymour and Mike Vrabel, both of whom won three Super Bowls with the Patriots.

That is, at least, in part to Harrison's performances in the postseason, when he recorded seven interceptions in nine games. He picked off two passes from Donovan McNabb in New England's victory over the Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX.

Harrison became the seventh player from the early-2000s portion of the dynasty inducted into The Hall, joining Troy Brown, Tedy Bruschi, Ty Law, Willie McGinest, Kevin Faulk and Matt Light.

"Guys, you've gotta believe in yourself," Harrison told the crowd. "You know how many times I was turned down? You know how many times somebody said, 'Hey you're too small, you can't get it done'? And you know what? That made me angrier, that made me hungrier, that made me more passionate. You should never let anybody tell you what you can't do. I'm a kid from Markham, Illinois. Markham, Illinois, 150 pounds as a starting free safety as a senior."

Former left tackle Leon Gray was also posthumously inducted in the Patriots Hall of Fame on Monday.

In:
• NFL
• New England Patriots
• Rodney Harrison