Patriots legend Tippett finally gets spot in Hall of Fame

Former New England Patriots linebacker Andre Tippett (right) uncovers his bronze bust with Patriots owner Robert Kraft (left) at the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2008, in Canton, Ohio. (AP photo/Mark Duncan)

Howard Ulman

FOXBOROUGH — It was much tougher for Andre Tippett to get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame than into an opponent’s backfield.

Tippett had to wait until his 10th year of eligibility to be voted in. The linebacker he often was compared with, Lawrence Taylor, made it on his first chance.

Last Saturday, though, the greatest pass rusher in New England Patriots history finally joined one of the greatest pass rushers in the history of the NFL in the game’s shrine in Canton, Ohio.

Joining Tippett in this year’s class were defensive end Fred Dean, a four-time Pro Bowler who won two Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers; speedy cornerback Darrell Green and wide receiver Art Monk, linchpins of the Washington Redskins’ championship squads of the 1980s and ’90s; Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Emmitt Thomas, one of the best cover men of the 1960s and ’70s; and offensive tackle Gary Zimmerman, who was named to the NFL’s 1980s and 1990s All-Decade Teams.

“I took the attitude that, you know what, if it happens this year, I’m excited. If it doesn’t, then next year,” Tippett said. “The year before, I had gotten to the final and so it was getting closer. To say that I expected it, no.”

It’s an honor he can put with another one he cherishes: spending his entire career with one team, even though the Patriots were horrible in his last five seasons, with a total of 19 wins.

“I wear it as a badge of honor,” Tippett said. “Toward the end of my career, probably around ’90, I talked to guys, and guys would say to me, ‘You know, how do you stay there, all of the things that are going on, and why don’t you do something to get out of there?’

“And to me, it wasn’t my manner. It wasn’t my personality or my makeup to be that type of person.”

So he finished his career with the Patriots and has spent much of the time since then in the front office, currently as executive director of community affairs.

On the field, he had 100 sacks from 1982-93, missing the 1989 season with a shoulder injury. Taylor started a year earlier with the New York Giants and also retired after the 1993 season, finishing with 132.5 sacks.