Tippett praises former teammates

I can't believe Steve Nelson and Don Blackmon aren't in the hall too! Teams ran to the opposite side of Tippett regularly and Blackmon ate them up every play! The guy made clutch plays all the time. Hard to believe they are ignored. I suppose somehow they'll ignore Roman Pfifer and Ted Johnson too....

Dear Mike,

Welcome to Canton. I hope you enjoy your stay in our fine city. Lee

...gameday, with all due respect, you can't be a serious. I've been a huge Patriots fan for over 40 years but Don Blackmon and Ted Johnson in the HALL OF FAME???.....Blackmon's career was way too short, Ted Johnson was a good player but hardly "Hall worthy"........the Hall is supposed to be for the GREATEST players in the HISTORY of the game. I don't think any of the players you mentioned qualify as such. They were all GOOD players but not GREAT players.

While Ted Johnson was a very good player during the Pete Carroll and Belichick eras, you can't say he was the best linebacker in the league during his time. Don't get me wrong. Ted was one of my favorite Patriots and I loved him in the middle of that defense as he was a perfect fit with his size and ability, but he also missed quite a bit of time with injuries during his career (torn biceps, concussion come immediately to mind). For an inside linebacker to be Hall of Fame worthy, he needs to have the impact of a Butkus, Singletary, or a Lewis. With all due respect, I don't think Ted was quite in that class.
However, I do think there will be a time when he is inducted to the Patriots Hall of Fame, and that will be much deserved.

Agreed Dryheave. You echoed my exact thoughts when I saw this post. I try not to comment of fellow Patriot fans posts. There are enough idiots on PFT.

Nelson, Tippett, Blackmon, with Simms on the end of the line...that was a good D.

Upon further review, I stand by my comment. If the likes of Lynn Swann (one catch) are in the Hall, people with real contributions should be too. Team went to 4 superbowls in 10 years. You can't do that with just any middle linebacker and they did it with the same one, Ted Johnson. Furthermore, Pats middle linebacking has been lost in the woods for most of the past 4 years...they were never able to replace Johnson effectively until they came across another hall of famer in Seau. Those two facts alone are all you need; you can skip the rest of the checklist. Roman Pfifer has a decade and a half of stats and was also starting linebacker on 2 sb teams. Teams couldn't and wouldn't run to Tippett's side and they always seemed to run or screen on third down to Blackmon's side and he killed the play every time. The man deserves recognition. All of them do. And the league will never give them respect if even our own fans ignore their contributions. They are worthy.