Law, Seymour and Moss three ex-Patriots named as semifinalists for Pro Football Hall of Fame

Ty Law, Richard Seymour and Randy Moss are the three ex-Patriots are among the 27 semi-finalists announced Tuesday as potential inductees for the Class of 2018 Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Law was a finalist on last year’s ballot, while this is the first year Moss and Seymour have been eligible.

A two-time All-Pro who has three Super Bowl rings, Law spent 15 seasons in the NFL, 10 of them with New England, and ended his career with 53 picks, good enough to tie him with Deion Sanders for 24th on the all-time list. This is his fourth time as a semifinalist.

Seymour, who played with the Patriots from 2001 through 2008, was a contributor to three Super Bowl winners in New England and a three-time All-Pro who was named to seven Pro Bowls in his career. He played a number of different spots in his eight seasons with the Patriots, and finished his career with 57.5 sacks.

Moss had one of the best careers of any receiver in the history of the game: he’™s second all-time in receiving touchdowns with 156 (trailing only Jerry Rice), third in all-time receiving yards (behind Rice and Terrell Owens) and 15th on the list of all-time catches (982). He spent three-plus seasons in New England, and had 259 catches for 3,904 yards and 50 touchdowns while with the Patriots. He had one of the best single season in NFL history with New England in 2007 when he had 98 catches for 1,493 yards and 23 touchdowns.

For our take on their respective chances, check out this story from September.

The rest of the semi-finalists include players Steve Atwater, Ronde Barber, Tony Boselli, Roger Craig, Alan Faneca, Torry Holt, Joe Jacoby, Edgerrin James, Ray Lewis, John Lynch, Terrell Owens, Brian Urlacher and Hines Ward. Former coach Jimmy Johnson is also part of the group.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2018 will be announced during NFL Honors, a two-hour primetime awards special to air nationally on the eve of the Super Bowl. The Class of 2018 will be officially enshrined into the Hall of Fame during the spectacular Enshrinement Ceremony held inside Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton next August.