Richard Seymour pokes fun at Tom Brady during Hall of Fame speech

Richard Seymour was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday, putting a cap on a stellar NFL career that saw him play for the New England Patriots and Oakland Raiders.

Seymour was the No. 6 overall pick of New England in 2001. He turned into a three-time All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowler during his career. He was on three Super Bowl-winning teams with the Patriots, finishing with 57.5 sacks and 498 total tackles.

In his speech, Seymour thanked New England team owner Robert Kraft and longtime NFL head coach Bill Belichick. He poked a little fun at Tom Brady – who was selected a year before him.

“We had a young quarterback, but we made it work,” Seymour said.

Despite the accolades and achievements, he said he was coached up never to look at stats.

“We’d have a saying with the Patriots that stats can be for losers,” the former defensive lineman said. “I was asked to do selfless things.”

Seymour said he believed the first three Super Bowls of the Patriots’ dynasty were defensive-led teams. Seymour was a rookie in 2001 when the team won their first title. Lawyer Milloy, Roman Phifer, Tedy Bruschi and Ty Law led that team on the defensive side.

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Seymour would step up and come into his own by 2003 and 2004 alongside Rodney Harrison, Willie McGinest, Bruschi and Law.

“Those first three Super Bowls, they were all defensive-led teams. I think for us, the shift really started to happen right after that. And that’s when Brady really became Brady. And then it really just took off. Offense sells, so I totally get it. But those early teams were led by the defense,” he said.

Mike Vrabel, a former teammate of Seymour and the current head coach of the Tennessee Titans, also gave credence to Seymour’s Hall of Fame career.

“He brought a demeanor. He brought an attitude,” Vrabel said. “He continued to push guys, even as a young player he pushed guys. He had the ability and the confidence enough to push guys that were maybe in their sixth or seventh year and he maybe was in his second or third year.”

Seymour’s bust will forever live on in Canton.

“I’m overwhelmed today with humility not because of what this moment says about me, but what this moment says about ‘we’ and what ‘we’ can do together,” he said, via the Patriots’ website. “I’m overwhelmed with gratitude because I didn’t get here alone, none of us did. None of us could have. Class of ’22, they say you can judge a man by the company he keeps, I couldn’t be among better company than you. It’s a privilege to have my name bound forever with yours in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.