Newest NFL Hall of Famer Ty Law Changed Football Forever

I appreciate Coley’s hustle and efficiency beating me to this, but I’ll die before I let an occasion like the second greatest Patriots cornerback (I’ll still consider Mike Haynes a Patriots no matter what he, the Raiders and Canton say) getting inducted into the Hall of Fame without a re-post.

I love Cooperstown as much as the next guy. But this is an example of something Canton has always gotten right that the Baseball Hall doesn’t. In the Pro Football Hall, it’s about what you did to impact the history of the game. In MLB, too much of it is about the back of the baseball card. The numbers. Cumulative and otherwise. Stick around long enough and hit a couple of career markers and you’re in, even if you were never actually great or a even much of a winner. But I’m going to table that discussion for another time.

The reason Law deserves this – in fact, why it’s such a no-brainer when you think about it – is that he had it all. The numbers. The longevity. But also the record of winning and an impact on the game that is still being felt today.

The numbers: Oddly enough, interception totals are pretty skewed toward guys who played in the 50s and 60s. Men like Paul Krause, Emlen Tunnell and Night Train Lane. But among those who played the majority of their careers in the 2000s, Law’s 53 career picks puts him behind only Charles Woodson, Ed Reed and Darren Sharper. And he’ll be tied for eternity with Deion Sanders. Not bad company.

The longevity: He was drafted by Bill Parcells in 1995 and by 2007 was still starting 16 games. After two seasons of limited playing time he retired at the age of 35. An eternity for a cornerback. And just to give you an idea of how productive he was over a long period of time, he led the league in interceptions twice, once with New England and later with the Jets. Eight years later.

The winning: Law helped guide his team to three Super Bowls, played in three of them (he was on IR in 2004), won three rings and his Pick-6 of Kurt Warner in Super Bowl XXXVI, more than any other single play, changed the course of history for the Patriots.

The impact: But it’s fair to say that wasn’t even his biggest contribution to football as we know it. His finest hour – and one of the great single defensive performances in the history of the postseason, came in the 2003 AFC divisional game against Indy. Peyton Manning was coming off a near perfect 22-30, 304 yard, 138.7 passer rating job the week before against KC. Law picked him off three times, the best of which was one where he was actually gesturing with his hand where he saw the ball was going to go, jumped the route and broke the will of that year’s co-MVP. The reaction of the Colts was to whine about physical the Pats secondary were against their receivers, send Bill Polian to the Rules Committee, and get them to forever change the way pass coverage is officiated.

You can honestly say that there are two defensive backs in history who are responsible for getting the rules changed: Mel Blount of the Steelers gave us the 5-yard Contact rule. And Ty Law of the Patriots gave us the Everything is Pass Interference Rule. That alone proves how great he was.