Hall calls ’80s cornerstone: Clayborn
FOXBORO — Raymond Clayborn has long felt he belongs in the Patriots Hall of Fame, but when it was announced that Richard Seymour and Mike Vrabel were the other finalists he thought this might not be his year.
The Patriots sent a camera crew to his Texas house under the guise of putting together a “Where are they now” piece.
“I was like, ‘Why are they coming down here for this?’ ” Clayborn said. “Next thing I know, Mr. Kraft was on the phone and said, ‘Raymond, one of my favorite players. Well, Raymond, you’ve been in this Hall of Fame voting for a few years and you’ve finally got it my friend.’ I’m like, ‘Did I hear you right?’
“I beat out Richard Seymour and Mike Vrabel, two threetime Super Bowl champions. Unbelievable.”
Clayborn, 62, was a Patriot for 13 seasons, from 1977 through 1989. A threetime Pro Bowl selection, he had 36 interceptions, which is tied for the most in team history with Ty Law. He had a career-best six picks in 1985, when the Pats reached Super Bowl XX.
“I had most of my interceptions with Mike (Haynes),” he said of his teammate of six seasons. “They didn’t want to throw at him, so I got most of my interceptions. I think, if he had stayed, I probably would be way ahead of Ty.”
His wife, two daughters, son and grandson will be with him today, when he becomes the Hall’s newest member.
Clayborn’s son, Raymond Jr., who was a high school teammate of Tyler Vrabel, the son of the former linebacker, is going to Texas Southern on a football scholarship. The elder Clayborn joked that he is no longer his son’s idol as Raymond Jr., an offensive lineman, looks up to Shaq Mason.
Even though the ball is thrown now more than ever, Clayborn doesn’t see much difference from when he was in the league.
“I don’t feel it’s changed that much since when they changed the rules where you couldn’t touch the receiver after five yards. Before that, you could beat them up all the way down the field. I think it was ’ 79 that they did the 5-yard rule, where you could only maintain contact with them for up to five yards.”
While the glow of five Lombardi trophies can obscure the era before Kraft bought the Patriots in 1994, Clayborn said his fondest memory was returning to T.F. Green Airport following the upset win over the Dolphins to clinch the team’s first Super Bowl appearance. There were about 5,000 people waiting on the runway.
“I think if we had played the Chicago Bears the next week, instead of having two weeks to party,” he said of the Pats’ 46-10 loss in New Orleans. “I think we would have done a better job.”