In his remarks before the official ribbon-cutting of his spiffy new museum, Patriots' owner Robert Kraft said that the Hall at Patriot Place would be devoted to preserving the legacy of New England football, "especially at the youth level."

I know what you mean, Bob.

That's why I wasn't at the induction ceremony for the 13 members of the Patriots Hall of Fame on Saturday. Instead, I was preserving the legacy of local football by covering Norton's big win over Oliver Ames on a glorious day that was better spent running along the sidelines instead of sitting and listening to speeches.

As a member of the nominating committee that selects the three annual finalists for induction, my work was done back in April. I listened to the nominating speeches, offered my two cents on occasion, then jotted my three suggested finalists on a secret ballot and went home. A month later I learned that two of the three for whom I had voted had become finalists, and eventually, you fans selected one of them, tight end Ben Coates, to be the 13th member of the Hall of Fame.

Ever since then, I've been thinking about next year - sort of like Bill Belichick, who starts working on the next season's playbook 20 minutes after the last game of the current season. Right now, we're somewhat bound by instructions to nominate just three individuals for one yearly spot. It makes more sense now than it will in a few years, when a tsunami of contributors to the Patriots' dynastic period will start to become eligible for induction.

Stacey James, the Patriots' VP in charge of PR, heads the Hall of Fame effort and is taking the "we'll cross that bridge when we come to it" approach to the future because, at least for another few years, we'll still be digging a little deeper into the mists of the past to find Patriots worthy of enshrinement.

Given that, here are a few names I'd like to see considered before the flood of Kraft-era Pats starts to dominate the voting:

RAYMOND CLAYBORN: The cornerback from Texas, chosen first by the Patriots in the 1977 NFL Draft (16th overall) would be my first choice. Teamed with Michael Haynes (who's both in the Patriots Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame), Clayborn helped give the Patriots one of the best corner tandems in the league for the seven seasons they played together.

Clayborn is fifth all-time in service to the team (191 games), is tied with Ty Law for the team interception lead (36) and is second in career return yardage (555). Much fuss will be made over his dust-up with the late Will McDonough after the 56-3 win over the Jets on Sept. 9, 1979, but I was there and it was nowhere near as apocalyptic as latter-day descriptions make it out to be. Besides, McDonough and Clayborn eventually patched things up after their exchange of blows - in which no one fell into a laundry basket, by the way. It was quickly stopped when WBZ's Roger Twibell, who was about 6-foot-3 and had a strong build, stepped between the two to break it up.

RAYMOND BERRY: His career coaching record with the Patriots is .552, which ranks behind Pete Carroll (.563) for third place behind Bill Belichick, and no one is going to suggest enshrinement for Carroll. Some wouldn't see Berry as worthy, either, just on the basis of the numbers. But here's one time where context is more meaningful.

Berry took over in the chaos of Ron Meyer's implosion, and he had the perfect team for his unique style of coaching - a veteran team, lacking only the occasional tweaks and nudges needed to direct them toward success. In 1985, the Patriots not only gained momentum throughout the season under Berry's calm leadership and made it to their first Super Bowl, the excitement with which New Englanders greeted their success (especially the "Squish the Fish" euphoria of winning the AFC title in Miami) marked the first time that the Patriots actually mounted a legitimate challenge to the dominance of the Red Sox in this sports market.

The negatives? A 46-10 loss to the Bears (but no one was going to beat them), the drug scandal afterward, and the gradual decline that eventually sent the Patriots plunging to their lowest depths under Rod Rust and Dick MacPherson. But for a while, New Englanders got a taste of what a winning football team would be like, and Berry gave it to them.

JON MORRIS: The more I think about it, the more I'd like to see the long-time center make it.

Center isn't a sexy position, but Morris was a representative of the Patriots in seven American Football League all-star games, topped in that category only by Pro Football Hall of Famer John Hannah's nine Pro Bowl appearances. The Patriots had a decent running attack during that period and Morris anchored it, and of all the names thrown about among the remaining old-timers, including Jim Nance, Houston Antwine and Larry Eisenhauer, Morris appears to me to have the best credentials, a legacy that will stand up well when he's joined by the Bradys, Bruschis, Browns and so on. JOHN SMITH: I know it's a long shot, but I still think it was great that the Patriots (and a local talk show host whom I shall not name) staged a contest to bring a kicker over from England, Mike Walker flopped, and a runner-up eventually became a fixture for nine NFL seasons.

Smith ranks third in career field goal attempts and successes, third in career made-and-attempted PATs, and is tied with Stephen Gostkowski for most PATs in a game. He led the NFL in scoring twice.

Most would probably say that Adam Vinatieri is the first kicker who should go into the Patriots Hall of Fame (Gino Cappelletti was also a receiver), but for all his great kicks, Vinatieri never won a game against Miami after a convict drove a snowplow over the line of scrimmage to clear a path for his kick. Just the fact that it would tick off Don Shula is reason enough to put John Smith in the Hall of Fame.

SAM CUNNINGHAM: He's still the leading career rusher for the Patriots with 5,453 yards over nine seasons and is second in rushing touchdowns with 43. He led the team in rushing for six seasons and five in a row from 1975-79, but the big negative there is that there is only one 1,000-yard season among them (1,015 in 1977).

BILL PARCELLS: See "Raymond Berry."

There are those who will always hate the Tuna because he bolted to the Jets. But if he hadn't been here and started the wheels of the Patriots' revival in motion, the St. Louis Stallions would have had a hell of a hall of fame next to the Edward Jones Dome.

The biggest problem? We have to wait until Parcells finally retires. I expect that in 2017, after he leads the Detroit Lions to their first Super Bowl.

BILLY SULLIVAN: Don't shudder.

James says that at some point, the Patriots Hall of Fame will make room for "contributors" to the team. That would seem to be a painless way to honor the fellow who founded the team on a shoestring, and lost the whole thing (including the shoestring) after 20 years or so of slapstick ownership.

But let's face it, Sullivan went out on a limb back in 1959 by committing money he didn't have to a venture whose other investors were labeled "the Foolish Club" because it appeared they were throwing their money away by taking on the established NFL.

Billy was caustic, abrasive, headstrong and fiercely protective of his offspring, some of whom made some amazingly stupid decisions during his ownership. He could also write wonderful letters praising a reporter's work, even if the story was critical of the team. But above all, he had the guts to start a football team in what had been a graveyard for several other attempts, and at times, it was his sheer force of will that sustained the Patriots through the bad old days.

I was there for everything that happened from the move to Foxboro to his sale of the team to Victor Kiam, and I certainly know that Billy made more than his share of mistakes along the way. Starting the Patriots was also seen as a mistake way back when, and now they have a Hall of Fame.

Billy Sullivan should be in it.

MARK FARINELLA may be reached at 508-236-0315 or via e-mail at mfarinel@thesunchronicle.com. Read Farinella's blog, "Blogging Fearlessly," at thesunchronicle.com/farinella.