Rodney Harrison comes up short in Hall of Fame process once again

BOSTON (CBS) -- By just about any measure, Rodney Harrison was a Hall of Fame football player. Yet he still can't quite crack the code of earning enshrinement.

Harrison was a semifinalist for induction this year but didn't make the cut when the list went from 28 to 15 on Wednesday.

Former Patriots defensive lineman Vince Wilfork also failed to make the list of 15 finalists after he was named a semifinalist in late November. For both players, it's the second time they've failed to make the finalist list after appearing on the list of semifinalists. But with Harrison having been eligible since 2013, he's now reaching the decade mark of coming up short.

By most objective metrics, Harrison's case for Canton is cut-and-dried. He played 15 NFL seasons -- nine with the San Diego Chargers, six with the New England Patriots -- and was a First Team All-Pro twice, a Second Team All-Pro once, a two-time Pro Bowler, and a two-time Super Bowl champion. He was the first member of the NFL's 30-interception, 30-sack club, a group that now includes just two players -- with the other being Hall of Famer Ray Lewis.

Harrison was a major driver to the early-2000s Patriots becoming two-time champions and then three-time champions, as his arrival in 2003 brought a certain edge that was sorely needed for a Patriots team that missed the playoffs the year after winning the Super Bowl in 2001.

In 2021, when Harrison came up short on the list of semifinalists, Bill Belichick spoke to Harrison's worthiness of enshrinement.

"I think that Rodney Harrison 100 percent [belongs] in that conversation. And I've coached some of the other safeties that have been enshrined in the Hall of Fame, and not take anything away from them, but certainly, Rodney Harrison belongs in that -- he belongs in that conversation," Belichick said in 2021. "And he certainly belongs in the conversation with other players that are already there."  

Former Patriots and Chiefs personnel man Scott Pioli made the case for Harrison around that same time, noting that Harrison had more interceptions, sacks,  defensive touchdowns, tackles, forced fumbles and pass defenses than John Lynch, despite playing in 38 fewer games. Harrison also had a more prolific postseason career than Lynch, recording seven interceptions, two sacks, and a defensive touchdown in 13 games. Lynch had two interceptions, zero sacks and zero defensive touchdowns in 12 games. Lynch was enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 2021, a spot that Pioli said is well-deserved. It's just hard to comprehend how one is a Hall of Famer and the other is not.

Of course, Harrison hurt a lot of people -- physically and emotionally -- over the course of his career, and that often led to fines and, once, a suspension. Harrison garnered a reputation as a dirty player, though he later said he considered fine money to have been an investment in his overall stature in a league that valued hard-hitting safeties. Ultimately, that perception may be what keeps him out of the Hall of Fame.

But it probably shouldn't. For the era and time that he played, Harrison was one of the best players in the game at his position. Offenses certainly made note of where No. 37 was lined up on every snap, but that often didn't stop him from making game-changing and season-changing plays.

For now, though, the call to Canton will be put on hold for at least another year.