Mr Coates you deserved to be in the Hall and I mean no disrespect to you or your contributions to this organization. I still remember a catch you made with no time on the clock to beat Buffalo when everyone in the stadium knew the ball was going to you. I am glad you where a Patriot.

Jim Nance carried this organization and his team on his back for several years in the mid to late 60′s. He was the face of an organization that had no real home. He died young and was never really appreciated for what he did. To have seen him inducted this fall and his family accepting the honor would have made me proud of the city and the team.

Maybe another time.

One thing with the league Hall is that often, a guy may only get one legitimate shot, and if he doesn’t get in that year, he’s never getting in. I could see fans mistakenly thinking the same is true of the Pats HoF.

They need to better spell out the criteria, so fans know what they’re voting for.

I think ideally, the majority of fans would have thought it was more important to make sure a player like Nance didn’t get left behind. They didn’t need to see him or see highlight tapes in order to vote for him. The player, who hasn’t played for the team in over 35 years, is still the team’s leading touchdown scorer, and the only player in team history to be league MVP twice. I don’t know why we need to see tape of him to say, “hey, we’re being given the opportunity to decide this, and these guys deserve the acknowledgement for their contribution to the organization, so let’s make sure we don’t leave the all time touchdown leader and two-time MVP behind. He should be in already.”

I guess I was also hoping that the fans would also say “Coates is going to be in here too, if not this year, it will be next year or the year after that” and decide this year that it was more important to acknowledge the WHOLE history of the team instead of just the last fifteen years.

It’s not simply bitching because my guy didn’t get in. It’s about not letting an important part of the team’s history get away, especially now that they’ve got a place to keep it.

How did they vote in the 80′s, snail mail? I guess they have to start somewhere. Now doubt, any voting and election will always be followed by comments about better choices that should have won.

I remember when Coates was let go and joined the Ravens and you could get his #87 Pats game jersey for $25! I seriously considered it but didn’t because he was bad mouthing the team at the time. Time heals I guess. I learned my lesson though and now I pick up game jerseys at low point market prices when I can and use #87 as the justification.

Seriously though, I still watch old bledsoe-coates games on VHS from the treadmill, you can’t do that with Nance, they didn’t even have beta back then. Is it the Fans fault that there is so little footage available to make a judgment or should the fans rely purely on statistics instead of their lieing eyes and fading memories?

You have to start somewhere and where ever that is some fans are going to be irked.

I think you guys are right. The Pats have to make some adjustments to this process. When I hear people talking about putting Drew Bledsoe in the Pats Hall of Fame, its practical confirmation that we’re skipping over the 60′s, 70′s and 80′s as I had feared, and going straight to the 90′s.

I’m thinking the nominating committee should get some heat for throwing a Coates on the ballot with guys who don’t have a prayer of being remembered by most of the team’s current fans. What the hell is that? Put Nance, Ray Clayborn and Dave Frigging Meggett on the ballot and who do you think gets in?