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Richard Seymour Hoping Patriots Hall Of Fame Induction Paves Path To Canton

BOSTON (CBS) -- The Pro Football Hall of Fame is home to the greatest football players to ever play the game. Logically, it might be difficult for any Hall of Fame voter to select a player for induction if that player is not even a member of his old team's hall of fame.

For three-time Super Bowl champion Richard Seymour, who's been a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame for two straight years, that's no longer going to be a problem.

Seymour was voted in to the Patriots' Hall of Fame, the team announced on Monday. The seven-time Pro Bowler was asked if he thinks getting enshrined in Foxboro will help pave the way to enshrinement in Canton.

"I think it definitely made it difficult, because some writers could easily say, well, we can't put him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame obviously until he's in the Patriots'  Hall of Fame. But I'm in now, so we'll just deal with that," Seymour said on a video conference on Monday afternoon. "It's a tremendous honor. It wasn't anything that I ever thought about while I played in terms of being a Hall of Famer. I just wanted to go out and compete and earn the respect of my teammates and also the opponents that I played against. That's really where my mindset was.

"I think it's the difference between stats and impact. Having your impact on the game and imprint of offensive coordinators having to play against you. I think I've earned that. I've talked to a lot of offensive linemen throughout the years and earned their respect, and I think that goes a long way for not only the Patriots Hall of Fame but hopefully down the road, the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But it's all a blessing and an honor."

For Seymour, the election to the Patriots' Hall of Fame offered the opportunity for reflection. He recalled how a Patriots scout visited him in Georgia and asked if he'd be able to transition into a 3-4 defensive end.

"At that point, I didn't even know what a 3-4 defensive end was, to be honest," Seymour recalled. "But I was like yeah, I could do it."

It obviously worked out quite well, and Seymour shared credit with Bill Belichick and the rest of the Patriots' coaching staff for setting him up to succeed in the NFL.

"Obviously you go back and you look at Coach Belichick and what he's meant to defense and to be drafted by him says a lot. So I just wanted to come in and absorb as much information as I could. I knew I was coming into a veteran team, and like I said, I was in really good hands with Coach Belichick, Coach Romeo Crennel, and all of the coaches there. They really made the transition super easy for me," Seymour said. "It was an honor for me to be drafted there, to be honest. Out of all the places that you can go in the National Football League, you want to go where everybody takes it serious."

In the announcement that Seymour had won the vote, Patriots owner Robert Kraft said that Seymour "laid the foundation for a defense that helped propel the Patriots to three Super Bowl championships in his first four seasons in the NFL." That's an honor in which Seymour takes great pride.

"It's a tremendous honor. And I remember, I have a picture down in the basement of Mr. Kraft and Jonathan holding the No. 1 jersey, and the stadium in the background was being built. So I think it's very fitting to be building the foundation," Seymour shared. "I was just enthused that they chose me to be a part of changing some of the history that was going on. To be a part of the foundation of the Super Bowl run and the dynasty and the championships, you just think about … it's really not for me. You think about so many other people who helped you get to the point."

The ending of Seymour's Patriots tenure was, of course, rather unceremonious. Belichick traded Seymour to Oakland just a week before the start of the 2009 season. While Seymour didn't particularly enjoy that abrupt life change at the time, he said it never damaged his relationship with Belichick.

"Well, Al Davis said he traded for me, so that's the way I look at it," Seymour said with a laugh. "At the end of the day, the amount of respect that I had for Coach Belichick and still have to this day, it's a difference between business and your personal life. And personally, it was always a ton of respect. Coach Belichick, he would always send a Christmas gift to the kids and little things like that. In terms of the business side of it, I mean that's just the business of the NFL. ... That's just a part of it, and I don't have any hard feelings or anything like that. It's just a part of the way the NFL works."

Seymour added: "It may have seemed like there was some tension or something, but in my mind, it's no hard feelings. We talk when we see each other. He'll shoot me a text. The team was here in Atlanta for the Super Bowl, I was with the team. So all is well."

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