FOXBORO — The Patriots Hall of Fame was established in 1991 to honor the greatest players in franchise history.

Yesterday, Stanley Morgan, who played for New England for 13 seasons (1977-89), was elected as the 12th member of that prestigious club.

“Just to be nominated is an honor in itself,” Morgan said by phone. “I felt really honored when I got the call that I was being nominated from [vice president of Patriots media relations] Stacey [James], and I was just hoping that the fans remembered who I was. … I just left it in the fans’ hands.”

“He is most deserving of the honor and, in my opinion, belongs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame,” said Patriots chairman and CEO Robert Kraft in a news release.

Morgan is the second receiver to earn Patriots Hall of Fame honors, joining wide receiver and kicker Gino Cappelletti. The Patriots will honor Morgan in an enshrinement ceremony at the Patriots Charitable Foundation Kickoff Gala at Gillette Stadium on Aug. 27.

He gave a lot of credit for his nomination to his quarterback, Steve Grogan.

“Steve has probably been my biggest fan and of course I was always his biggest fan,” Morgan said. “Steve and I developed a relationship when I first got here, in ’77, and that relationship has gotten stronger and stronger as we played together and then as we did events together. Over the past year, just being able to get together and talk about old times, that friendship just renewed itself so I really owe all of this to Steve because he was one of the main people that was really pushing for this to happen.”

Grogan isn’t Morgan’s only fan.

“There was nobody more competitive than Stanley,” said Andre Tippett, who was inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame in 1999 and played with Morgan from 1982 to 1989. “Stanley was very competitive in practice. He would go after the [defensive backs] as [hard] as the [defensive backs] were going after him, and when he played, he played hard. He played to win. He was a very talented football player.”

Morgan is the Patriots’ all-time career leader in touchdowns (68), receiving yards (10,352), 100-yard receiving games (39), and 1,000-yard receiving seasons (3). He ranks second in franchise history with 534 career receptions and was the Patriots’ all-time receptions leader for nearly 22 years — from Nov. 11, 1984, when he passed Cappelletti’s previous record with his 293rd career reception — until Nov. 5, 2006, when Troy Brown recorded his 535th career catch.

Morgan holds Patriots’ single-season records for receiving yards (1,491 in 1986) and receiving touchdowns (12 in 1979). He earned Pro Bowl honors four times after the 1979, 1980, 1986 and 1987 seasons.

“If you look at Stanley’s records and his numbers, and compare them to those guys that are in [the NFL Hall of Fame], he’s not far behind,” Tippett said. “I don’t mean number nine, I mean number two or number three compared to some of the guys that are already in. Stanley has the numbers to meet the quota, so I think it’s just a matter of us making an argument for him.”

Morgan was one of the most explosive receivers in NFL history. He averaged 19.2 yards per catch, a figure that includes his 13 seasons in New England and one season in Indianapolis (1990). That average is the best in NFL history among the 95 players with 500 or more career receptions.

Additionally, of the 18 wide receivers in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, only one has a higher yards-per-catch average than Morgan (Paul Warfield, 20.1).

The Easley, S.C., native was selected by the Patriots in the first round (25th overall) of the 1977 NFL Draft out of the University of Tennessee. In his first six seasons as a pro, he averaged more than 20 yards per catch each year, including a career-high 24.1 yards per catch in 1978 (34 receptions for 820 yards).

He earned his first Pro Bowl berth after a 1979 season in which he led the NFL with a team-record 12 touchdown receptions and totaled 1,002 yards. That season, he and teammate Harold Jackson (1,013 yards) became the first players in team history to top 1,000 receiving yards in the same season.

He finished his Patriots’ career with a franchise record 10,352 receiving yards and 68 touchdowns, and his pro career with 10,716 receiving yards and 72 touchdowns.

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Patriots fans chose Morgan from a list of three finalists in an on-line election on Patriots.com. More than 70,000 fans registered votes from the time the polls opened, on June 1, until voting closed, on Wednesday. The three finalists, Morgan, Ben Coats and Ron Burton, were determined by a nomination committee made up of media, Patriots Hall of Famers and Patriots staff.

roblee@projo.com