MORGAN

I know who I’m voting for.

No, not in the Hillary-Rudy-Barack-John (both Edwards and McCain)-Fred fiasco that’s already become tedious and tiresome, with way too much campaigning, way too early, considering the outcome won’t be decided until a year from November.

I’m talking about an election of far greater current interest in New England — the balloting for the Patriots Hall of Fame.

There are just three nominees — running back Ron Burton, tight end Ben Coates and wide receiver Stanley Morgan — and only one can be elected.

Fans will make the selection. Online voting began last week on the team’s Web site — www.patriots.com — and will conclude Aug. 1. Fans are encouraged to vote early. But not, in a deviation from traditional New England election practices, often. They will be allowed to cast just one vote per registered e-mail address.

There is no need for deep deliberation regarding the player for whom that vote should be cast.

If Morgan doesn’t win in a landslide, the election ought to be declared a fraud.

He is head-and-shoulders the best candidate — without a doubt, the best player not yet in the Patriots Hall of Fame.

In case you’ve forgotten — as well you might have, since it has been six years since a player was so honored — Bruce Armstrong was the last player to be inducted. He became the 11th, joining John Hannah, Mike Haynes and Nick Buoniconti — all members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame — as well as Gino Cappelletti, Bob Dee, Steve Grogan, Jim Lee Hunt, Steve Nelson, Babe Parilli and Andre Tippett.

If, by the way, you have to ask what position any of those Pats stars of the past played, then you’re not qualified to vote in the election.

Now that the Patriots — in conjunction with the planned opening next year of a team museum and Hall of Fame at what promises to be the lavish Patriot Place — have decided to honor a player annually, starting with this season, let me state most emphatically that no one is more qualified than Morgan to be this year’s inductee.

Although Troy Brown surpassed him last season as the Patriots’ all-time receiving leader, Morgan gained a team-high — by a massive margin — 10,352 yards on his 534 catches in 13 seasons from 1977 through ’89. Brown ranks a distant second on the all-time yardage list, with 6,366 on 557 receptions over 14 years.

With his blazing speed — he also starred in track at the University of Tennessee, from whence the Patriots plucked him in the first round of the ’77 draft — Morgan was one of the NFL’s premier deep threats. He averaged 19.4 yards per catch — nearly two yards more than anyone else ranked among the Pats’ top-20 career receiving leaders. Three times, he had a season average of at least 22 yards per catch, topped by a team-record 23.4 in 1981, when he racked up 1,029 yards on 44 receptions.

Morgan’s 67 receiving touchdowns are 25 more than any other New England wide receiver. Cappelletti is next-best, with 42 in 11 seasons — almost all of them in the old American Football League. Coates, who played tight end, is second overall in career receiving TDs, with 50.

Speaking of Coates, he is a most-deserving candidate who one day, surely, will be enshrined in the Patriots Hall of Fame. But he shouldn’t go in before Morgan.

Nor should the late Ron Burton, a running back in the early days (1960-65) of the franchise, who wasn’t a great player (he ranks 17th on the all-time rushing list, and scored only nine career touchdowns in six seasons), but was a great person. He established the Ron Burton Training Village in Hubbardston, Mass., which teaches life skills to young men from all walks of life. The Patriots’ community service award, presented annually to the current player who best exemplifies the qualities Burton displayed, is named in his honor.

There is no shortage of other top candidates, headed by the likes of Sam Cunningham, the team’s all-time leading rusher (5,453 yards, and 43 TDs, on 1,385 carries), and center Jon Morris, who played in seven straight AFL All-Star Games from 1964 through 1970 and deserves mention with Hannah, Armstrong and Leon Gray as one of the best offensive linemen in team history.

The leading candidate this year, however — the best of the best, by far — is Morgan, who still holds the club season records for receiving yards (1,491 in 1986) and touchdowns (12, in 1979.) He also was the Pats’ leading punt returner in four of his first five seasons, returning one 80 yards for a touchdown in 1979.

So vote early, even if you can’t vote often. And make sure you vote for Morgan.

jdonald@projo.com