We’re down to the final three in the 25 best Patriots over the last 25 years. This selection was, for me, ultimately, the perfect place for one of the best players I’ve ever seen. A behemoth with hands the size of pie plates and a laugh that bounced off locker room walls.
3. Richard Seymour: For three seasons in the early 2000s, there was no better all-around defensive lineman in football than Seymour. Opposing offensive coordinators had to game-plan around him, and that was with the massive Seymour not being given the green light to be the penetrating force he would later be once he switched coasts. But he was coveted by the Patriots for his physical dominance, football IQ, and versatility - Seymour could just as easily play on the nose or control one side of the line as a 3-4 end.
"Richard was a tremendous player, tremendous skill set, great length, explosive, very quick for his size, was really — he could do everything," Bill Belichick said. "He started his career here on the nose [tackle], which was not really his best position, but he could play it for sure. ... Long, athletic, very powerful. He was a tough matchup for the interior linemen: He could win with speed against some of the quicker guys, and against some of the quicker guys he could win with power."
Seymour never had more than 8 sacks in a single season with the Pats (he did that twice) and yet was a four-time All-Pro, being honored in 2003, ‘04, ‘05 and ‘06 (second-teamer that year).
“It means you are the best at your position in the whole league,” Seymour said of All-Pro honors. “I want there to be no question about that. That’s my goal. Every year, just write me in as one of the top two.”
Seymour's overall stats (57.5 career sacks) weren’t overwhelming - perhaps they could have been in another system. But he was as proficient against the run as he was against the pass.
“I have spent over 25 years in the NFL as a scout and executive -- primarily in pro personnel, evaluating every guy in the league - and Seymour was one of the best players I saw during my time scouting,” Scott Pioli wrote on NFL.com as he campaigned for Seymour’s induction into the Hall of Fame. “He was dominant at times, but most of the time, he had to play within Bill Belichick's system. He played selfless football that did not afford him the opportunity to stockpile personal statistics. Instead, he willingly played within the scheme and helped New England win championships.”
"When you go through personnel evaluations for drafts, a lot of times you might say 'this guy is sort of like that guy.' Or 'that guy is sort of like this guy.' There's nobody like Richard Seymour,” Belichick wrote to the Hall of Fame committee. “They just don't come along. They are a generational-type player - athletically and talent-wise, and then the bigger part is what Richard brought to this organization as a person."
Not bad for a