The New England Patriots have announced the three finalists for this year’s class for the Patriots Hall of Fame. Patriots’ fans everywhere can vote for the players through the team’s website at patriots.com, the voting runs through May 31st.
The leading vote getter will be announced in early June and will be enshrined in the Hall at Patriots Place on Saturday September 15 the day before the team’s home opener against the Arizona Cardinals.
The three finalists are:
WR Troy Brown played for the Patriots from 1993 to 2007 and had the privilege of catching passes from the two greatest quarterbacks in franchise history, Tom Brady and Drew Bledsoe.
Brown, who played his entire career in New England, was an 8th round draft pick out of Marshall in the 1993 NFL Draft. He made the Pro Bowl team was an All-Pro selection in 2001. He is a three-time Super Bowl champion and played in 5 Super Bowls in his career. He is a member of the Patriots All-2000’s team and 50th Anniversary team.
In addition to his skills as a wide receiver, he also returned punts and played defensive back when the team was in a bind. When Brown retired he was the franchise leader in receptions with 557.
DB Fred Marion played with the team from 1982 to 1991 and recorded 29 career INT’s. Marion, a fifth round draft pick out of Miami in 1982, played his entire career in Foxboro and was a member of the Patriots first Super Bowl team.
He was also a Pro Bowl selection and an All-Pro in the Super Bowl season as well as a member of the Patriots All-80’s team, 35th Anniversary team and 50th Anniversary team.
Marion says he still watches the Patriots games each week from his Florida home. He is now a general sales manager for a car dealership and during the season he will wear his old jersey to work on “Jersey Saturday’s” at the dealership.
Head Coach Bill Parcells who coached the team from 1993 to 1996 is a second time nominee for the Hall getting nudged out by Drew Bledsoe in the fan vote last season. Parcells took over the team as head coach prior to Kraft family ownership and piloted them to their second Super Bowl appearance a loss in Super Bowl XXXI to Green Bay. After the game he left the team to take the head coach/general managers job with the New York Jets.
With the Patriots, Parcells was a two time Pro Football Weekly Coach of the Year in 1994 and 1996, the 1994 UPI Coach of the Year.
It is with the Parcells tenure and the drafting of Bledsoe that started the Patriots on their championship ways as he layed the foundation for the greatness that the franchise went on to achieve under the leadership of the Kraft’s and Bill Belichick.
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