Former New England Patriots safety Rodney Harrison was recently announced as a Hall of Fame finalist for the class of 2024. His former coach, Bill Belichick, is in Harrison's corner when it comes to receiving a gold jacket.
"Best safety I've coached," Belichick said of Harrison, according to The Boston Herald. "And there's a couple other ones that I've coached that are in the Hall of Fame."
Belichick also revealed that Harrison is a member of his "all-time team." He did not name the entire roster of said team, but he did reveal five members: quarterback Tom Brady, tight end Rob Gronkowski, edge rusher Lawrence Taylor, Harrison, and special-teams maven Matthew Slater.
It's notable that all five members of this all-time team are players that Belichick himself coached at one time or another. He obviously coached Brady, Gronk, Harrison, and Slater in New England, and Taylor when he was the defensive coordinator with the New York Giants.
None of the other team members have been revealed, so we don't know if it's supposed to be a team of the best players of all time at each position, or simple the best players at each position from Belichick-coached teams. Either way, the presence of Slater implies that Belichick's all-time team encompasses not just offensive and defensive starters, but perhaps an entire 53-man roster. Slater has been almost exclusively a special-teamer throughout his career, and Belichick thinks that like Harrison, Slater has been Hall-of-Fame-worthy in the role.
"Well I think Slater is eventually going to be a Hall-of-Fame candidate," Belichick said. "He's in a very unique category, one that I don't think is represented in the hall of fame, but based on what he did here in his career, the length of time he did and the level he's done it at, and again since there's no criteria for the hall of fame, there's no criteria.
"But I would say this guy's been as productive as anybody has ever been at his position throughout his entire career, which is very lengthy. I think he's the best that's ever done what he's done. Whether that's hall of fame worthy or not, that's a different subject that I'm not -- I don't have a say in. But I can't imagine putting anybody in there ahead of him at that position."
Slater will have to wait quite a while to see if Hall of Fame voters agree, and also if they're willing to put a special-teamer in the hall at all.