A cornerstone of Patriots' dynasty, Richard Seymour gets his Hall of Fame due | Opinion

SUWANEE, Ga. – As he headed toward the NFL, coming out of the University of Georgia as one of the top defensive linemen in the 2001 draft, Richard Seymour had a pretty good idea of the conditions he saw for himself at his first stop in pro football.

Seymour comes from the South. He grew up in Hopkins, South Carolina, then starred in Athens, Georgia.

“I knew exactly where I wanted to go,” Seymour told USA TODAY Sports recently, sipping coffee in his office near the front entrance of an immaculate mansion. “I wanted to go someplace warm. Lo and behold, I got sent south of the Mass Pike!”

Foxborough, there he goes. The New England Patriots, at the time still seeking the first Super Bowl crown in the franchise’s history, drafted Seymour sixth overall.

“I didn’t even know the states that make up New England,” Seymour told USA TODAY Sports. “But I had two aunts, my dad’s sisters, who lived in Boston. At least I’d have somebody at the games.”

Then Seymour, 42, let out a hearty bellow.

“Sometimes you think you know what’s best for you,” he said. “And sometimes you look back and it’s like, ‘Man, this was the best place for me. And I wouldn’t have picked it for myself.’ “

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The path surely worked out. Seymour, who played eight of his 12 NFL seasons in New England – and won three Super Bowls in his first four seasons – will be enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday. He arrived in Foxborough at an opportune time, and not only because Tom Brady, in his second NFL season, took over at quarterback.

He started rattling off names of veterans on the Patriots defense – Mike Vrabel, Bobby Hamilton, Anthony Pleasant, Ty Law, Lawyer Milloy, Tedy Bruschi – who took him under their wings and provided him a solid foundation for being a professional.

“Most of my teammates at that time were married with kids,” said Seymour, now a veteran in that regard, with he and his wife Tanya parents to four children (RJ, Kayla, Kennedy, London) ranging in age from 15-20.

“It was quite the perspective as they really showed me the nuances of the game,” he added of his rookie-year memories.

It was the Patriots' culture at work, and Seymour, always sort of an “old soul,” fit in to a unit that took its cue from then-emerging coach Bill Belichick.

“We were all workers,” Seymour said. “We didn’t know what we were going to be or where this was going. All of us just had our head down, grinding, perfecting our craft. But you saw the competitive spirit. So, all the ingredients – the game mattered, your teammates mattered, leadership mattered – it took to be Hall of Famers as we pushed one another to perform.”

Seymour joins Law as just the second player from the Patriots teams of the early 2000s to earn a gold jacket. Besides Brady and kicker Adam Vinatieri, there are no shoe-ins from the early dynasty teams. That’s a reason why Seymour’s selection, in his fourth year as a finalist, is so significant.

Players who excel in the trenches are often overshadowed by the stars at the skill positions, yet Seymour still managed to stand out. He earned seven Pro Bowl selections and was named to the All-Decade Team of the 2000s.

“I love Richard,” Brady said this week. “He’s amazing. Amazing man. So happy for him. So well-deserved. It’s kind of a crowning achievement. He’s had an unbelievable career.”

A few years ago, after Seymour became eligible for the Hall of Fame, Brady wrote a letter to the selection committee with a strong endorsement for his former teammate. Echoing Belichick, the message underscored the versatility that Seymour provided for the defensive front.

That was part of what made Seymour so special, as Belichick is prone to switch his defensive scheme from week to week, his unit morphing from a 3-4 to a 4-3 and then some. Seymour, despite standing 6-6, played the nose tackle early in his career, then also excelled at defensive tackle and defensive end. He was a terrific special teams player, too, evidenced by his Patriots-record seven blocked kicks.

And he never worried about a lack of appreciation.

“I always say this: You’ll notice it when you don’t have it,” he said.

Seymour will be presented for induction by Titus Duren, the principal at Lower Richland High School. Seymour said that if his father, Richard, Sr., were alive, he would have been the choice. Richard, Sr., died in 2004, died by suicide after killing his girlfriend. Seymour, an only child, spoke fondly of his father, crediting him for not only introducing him to football, but also to his post-football passion: poker.

Yes, Seymour still has an outlet for competitive passion. He’s participated in the World Series of Poker and is credited with nearly $500,000 in prize money.

It’s the football career, though, that has earned the bronze bust. The NFL path that began in Foxborough took him to Oakland, where he played for the final four years of his career with the Raiders – coincidentally the team he rooted for as a youngster.

He wound up experiencing NFL extremes. The tradition-rich operation headed by Al Davis, with its renegade reputation, contrasted the no-nonsense Patriots where the business and branding led by Robert Kraft complement the football product overseen by Belichick.

As much as he appreciates the Patriot Way, Seymour jelled with the Raiders’ vibe, too.

He said the family-like atmosphere that the late Davis established was palatable, evident by the ties that many Raiders alumni maintained with the franchise. He saw how much the game meant to Davis, even though it wasn’t always smooth sailing, given battles with the NFL.

“He was like Frank Sinatra,” Seymour said. “He did it his way.”

Seymour’s way has been notable in its own regard, soon to immortalized among the greatest ever.

Follow USA TODAY Sports' Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Richard Seymour gets awaited Pro Football Hall of Fame recognition