Up north, this probably doesn’t have as much meaning as it would elsewhere. Regardless, it’s still pretty cool.
So here’s the 411: the College Football Hall of Fame ballot was released on Monday and it features a bunch of players and coaches. Technically, it adds up to over 200 players and coaches which means that the Patriots are well-represented on it. There’s 13 players with Patriots ties eligible. Let’s take a look, shall we?
There are seven FBS players who played in a game for the Patriots on the list including: Michael Bishop, Terrell Buckley, Keith Byars, Matt Cavanaugh, Kevin Faulk, Kenneth Sims and Elmo Wright.
A few notes here: Faulk is the best player on the list and had a great career at LSU: he was First Team All-SEC thrice and a first team All-American in 1996. What else? The Patriots had a dude named Elmo! That would not be a fun name to have because of Sesame Street.
Oh, and Tom Brady beat out MIchael Bishop for the Patriots backup quarterback spot in 2001. In the past, Brady has complimented Bishop’s athletic ability, but it turns out Brady was the better thrower. Hey, life happens, I guess.
So who else we got? Robert Gallery, Torry Holt and Phil Olsen, who never played in a game for the Pats. Plus, three more who played in lower divisions but played in games for the Pats: Vincent Brown, Tyrone Poole and Steve Schubert.
Considering Poole was a first round draft pick out of Fort Valley State University, he may have a shot at it. He must’ve been a dominant Division 2 college football player.
So yeah, that’s pretty much it. Cool to see some former Patriots in consideration here. It would be nice to see Faulk honored because he was such an underrated NFL player.