‘Best safety I’ve coached’: Bill Belichick gives Rodney Harrison ringing Hall of Fame endorsement, names him to all-time team
"He's one of the best I ever coached. He certainly would be on my all-time team, without question."
A couple of days after he was named a finalist for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame for the first time in his career, Patriots legend Rodney Harrison received a ringing endorsement to get the honor from his former head coach.
Bill Belichick praised the two-time Super Bowl-winning safety for a few minutes at his press conference on Friday, telling reporters why he believes Harrison should be honored in Canton, Ohio, next summer.
“Best safety I’ve coached,” Belichick said. “There’s a couple other ones that I’ve coached that are in the Hall of Fame. But fantastic player, person, great competitor, could do it all, and was one of the most versatile players I’ve ever coached. He could cover, he really could play corner. He was a great blitzer, a great tackler. He was really, really hard to block in the running game, as a blitzer, kickoff coverage, and things like that.
“He was very explosive, 220 pounds or whatever he was, he was a thumper. He was a contact player. He ran well, very instinctive, did a great job disguising coverages, worked well with his teammates [like] Eugene [Wilson] and some different safeties we had back there through his career.”
Belichick’s claim that Harrison is the best safety he’s ever coached certainly holds some weight. In his 49 seasons as an NFL coach, Belichick has coached accomplished safeties such as three-time Super Bowl champ Devin McCourty, All-Pro Eric Turner, and All-Pro Lawyer Milloy, among others in his career.
But Harrison earned another distinguished honor from Belichick as he helped the Patriots win Super Bowls XXXVIII and XXXIX, earning two All-Pro honors during his six-year stint in New England.
“He’s one of the best I ever coached,” Belichick said. “He certainly would be on my all-time team, without question.”
Belichick made sure to add a caveat, though.
“Behind [Lawrence] Taylor, but he would certainly be right up there.”
Later in his press conference, Belichick was asked who else would be on his all-time team. He said he would maybe name one on a day in the future, but said Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, and Matthew Slater would all be included on it.
As Belichick explained how well Harrison worked with the other Patriots’ defensive backs, he also shared that the former safety made his teammates better in multiple ways.
In addition to the accolades and team success Harrison achieved in his career, he also holds some of the rare statistical honors for safeties and defensive backs. His 30.5 sacks are the most ever by a defensive back in NFL history. He also became the first player in NFL history to record 30 career sacks and 30 career interceptions, with only Ray Lewis joining him since then.
While Harrison’s résumé is impressive, there are things that aren’t included in it that really stood out to Belichick during his six seasons coaching him.
“Great practice player, too,” Belichick said of Harrison. “He made everybody else on the team better. If you practiced against him, you got better or you got embarrassed, one of the two. He brought a level of competitiveness, intensity, focus, and brought a higher level of practice to the team, which helped everybody.
“There’s a lot of things that don’t show up in the stats or anything like that. Tremendous, tremendous respect for what he did as a player, how much he brought to our team, how much he meant to our team, and what we lost when we lost him. We lost a great, great player Monday through Monday. It wasn’t just on Sunday. What he brought to the team every day of the week, every day he walked into the building, every time he stepped onto the field, he was all positive and impressive.”
Harrison is looking to be the sixth player coached by Belichick during his 24-year tenure with the Patriots to make it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, with Junior Seau, Randy Moss, Ty Law, Richard Seymour, and Darrelle Revis being the five others. He’ll find out his fate by Feb. 8, when the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2024 will be announced during the “NFL Honors ceremony.”
“Certainly hope he gets recognized,” Belichick said. “He definitely deserves it. This guy’s a great football player, a great teammate.”
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