The New England Patriots Hall of Fame includes 18 players, with Julian Edelman becoming the 13th player to make it in on his first ballot of eligibility for the 2025 class.
Impressively, Edelman beat out a Patriots legend in Adam Vinatieri, who should arguably already be in the Pats Hall of Fame for the kicks he made to earn the franchise their first two Super Bowls in 36 and 38.
Vinatieri recorded 24-years in the NFL between the Patriots (10) and Indianapolis Colts (14) while aging like a fine wine. In his time in New England, he made 98.1 percent of his extra points, only missing seven in his 10-years (367-374).
He was part of the select group of players that predated Bill Belichick as head coach in the mid-90’s and was an undrafted rookie during Robert Kraft’s second year of ownership, which he helped get to the Super Bowl in 1996 against the Green Bay Packers.
On the latest episode of the Dudes on Dudes podcast with Edelman and Rob Gronkowski, they talked about Vinatieri being a legend for the Pats and that he should already be in the Patriots Hall of Fame. Both of them were surprised that he’s not and Edelman was stunned that he got into the Hall of Fame over Vinatieri.
"I thought I was hands down losing to Adam Vinatieri, hands down."Julian Edelman
Most of the older generation of Patriots fans were likely shocked to see this as well. In a previous article, I mentioned how the voting process is flawed and that Kraft needs to restore order of the Hall of Fame because it’s going to continue happening as more recent players start to become eligible.
Also in the episode, Gronkowski was shocked to learn that Vinatieri won another Super Bowl with the Colts and Peyton Manning in 2007 after leaving the Patriots.
”Wait, he won a Super Bowl with the Colts? Oh, oh, crap… dang.”
Gronkowski was genuinely surprised to learn this, he even took his hat off and took a few extra breaths to collect himself before he talked again, where he explained why Edelman might’ve been voted in before him.
“I think he played more years with the Indianapolis Colts than he did with the New England Patriots, so I would say that factors into it as well when it comes to voting. … that kind of makes sense now why you got in over him because he played more with the Colts, with a team that New England does not like. So you got to wait your turn now, buddy, because you played for the Colts too.”
It’s worth mentioning that both Edelman and Gronkowski preface this conversation by saying that Vinatieri is the greatest kicker of all-time. They both also believe that he should be in the Patriots Hall of Fame.