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Junior Seau Elected To Pro Football Hall Of Fame

BOSTON (CBS) -- Junior Seau: Hall of Famer.

The late Seau was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, and the announcement came Saturday night, prior to the NFL Honors ceremony in Phoenix.

Jerome Bettis, Tim Brown, Charles Haley, Will Shields, Bill Polian, Ron Wolf and Mick Tingelhoff were also elected to the Hall of Fame.

Seau played 20 seasons in the NFL -- 13 with the San Diego Chargers, three with the Miami Dolphins and four with the New England Patriots. He recorded 56.5 sacks, 18 interceptions and more than 1,500 tackles in 268 games.

Earlier this week, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady spoke highly of Seau.

"I can't imagine having a professional football hall of fame without Junior Seau in it," Belichick said. "I think one word that comes to me when I think of Junior when it comes to playing football is 'passion.' He's a very passionate guy, a lot of energy, a lot of enthusiasm, first guy in the building in the morning, watching film, lifting weights, ready for practice. He always loved to practice, flying around on the practice field. He had energy before the game on the sideline, during the game, emotional player but a smart player that played with a purpose, played with good physical skill but also good concentration, good awareness. Great team player, very supportive of his teammates. I mean, everybody in the locker room loved Junior. They loved what he did, and they loved the way that he interacted with the team. He was a great player."

"He was a phenomenal player, teammate, friend," Brady said. "His attitude was infectious, he brought enthusiasm every day at practice. You'd show up to the weight room, and he'd be the first person there at 6 in the morning on the treadmill running, going into his 18th year in the league."

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