Steve Grogan, here in 2006, has been selected as the Patriots’ 1970s all-decade quarterback.

The Providence Journal / Mary Murphy

FOXBORO — As debates go, none that took place Monday at the Hall at Patriot Place was as spirited as “Ginger or Mary Ann?” “Tastes great! Less filling!” “Boxers or briefs?” “Rush Limbaugh or Al Franken?” or even “Bridget or Gisele?”

And, considering that the gathering consisted mostly of sports writers, with a smattering of radio and TV types, it was hardly surprising that the discourse failed to reach the levels of Lincoln-Douglas, Kennedy-Nixon or Obama-McCain.

Still, there were some interesting discussions during the four-plus hours — including a lunch break at the CBS Scene, which is less than a Rich Camarillo punt away from the north gates of Gillette Stadium — regarding which players should be named to the all-decade teams for the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s, as part of the Patriots’ celebration this year of their 50th football season.

(Yes, 1990 counts as a season, although whether it was football is debatable.)

The selections can be found on the Patriots Blog at projo.com, so, rather than list them all, the only ones mentioned here are those where I differed from the majority, or struggled to make what turned out to be the popular choice.

Starting with the 1970s, I’m surprised that Randy Vataha was tabbed at wide receiver, joining obvious pick Stanley Morgan. Although Vataha, who had been Jim Plunkett’s teammate at Stanford, led the Pats in receptions in 1971 and ’75, I didn’t have him in my top three. For me, the question was whether to pair Darryl Stingley or Harold Jackson with Morgan. Although Jackson had much better numbers, he spent as much time with the Rams and Eagles as he did with the Patriots. Had Stingley’s career not been tragically ended by Jack Tatum in the summer of ’78, he might have proven to be a special player when Ron Erhardt opened up the offense the following year.

The other question on offense was at running back, where I gave Andy Johnson the nod over Don Calhoun because of his versatility. While Calhoun arguably was a better runner, Johnson was a better receiver and also could throw the ball, having been a quarterback at Georgia.

Defensively, there was a glaring weakness at outside linebacker, where there wasn’t a single standout. While Steve Nelson and Sam Hunt were easy picks at the inside spots, the committee finally settled on Steve Zabel and Steve King. Others under consideration were Rod Shoate and George Webster, a fine player whose best years were behind him when he came to New England to finish his career from 1974-76.

Because Steve Grogan was clearly the choice over Plunkett as the QB of the ’70s, I cast a losing ballot for Tony Eason in the ’80s. Eason was a much better player before he was hurt in 1987 than most people either recognize or are willing to admit.

A first-round draft choice in 1983, he replaced Grogan as the starter the following year and threw for a career-high 23 touchdowns with only eight interceptions. He got off to a slow start the following year, when Grogan came off the bench and sparked a six-game winning streak that propelled the Pats toward the playoffs. But, when Grogan broke a leg against the Jets, Eason returned to the lineup and led the team to the AFC championship, throwing for five TDs, without an interception, in New England’s three playoff wins — the first in franchise history, and all of which came on the road.

In 1986, the Patriots had the worst running game in the league, averaging a mere 2.9 yards per carry while gaining a total of just 1,373 yards. Yet Eason still managed to lead the team to its only division title of the decade, completing 61.6 percent of his passes (276 of 448) — even though opposing defenses knew he’d be throwing most of the time — and had almost twice as many TD passes (19) as interceptions (10).

I also thought Ken Sims should have gotten the nod over Garin Veris at defensive end. Although Sims never lived up to the expectations created when the Pats picked him first overall in 1982, he played very well in ’84 and ’85, often occupying two blockers. Veris, who was a class act, benefited from being able to use his quickness as a pass rusher while blockers were scared to death about André Tippett and also were dealing with Sims inside.

While it’s hard to argue over the selection of three-time Pro Bowler Brian Holloway at offensive tackle, I voted for the late Steve Moore, a congenial giant of a man with amazing quickness for his size. He was the Patriots’ best lineman in the Super Bowl season of ’85, when John Hannah was in his last year and hurting physically.

John Rembert edged Lawrence McGrew at the other inside linebacker spot beside Nelson. I went with Rembert, but could have been persuaded to go with McGrew.

The biggest debate involving the ’90s all-decade team was — surprisingly, I thought — whether Terry Glenn was worthy of selection. Although he had his issues, Glenn was New England’s leading receiver as a rookie in the ’96 Super Bowl season, making 90 catches for 1,132 yards and six TDs. He had 50 receptions in 1998, second to tight end Ben Coates’ 67, and then led the team again in ’99, catching 69 balls, good for 1,147 yards and four TDs. Fortunately, reason and statistics prevailed, and Glenn and Shawn Jefferson garnered the most votes.

There also was balloting yesterday on the all-time offensive and defensive teams, as well as for the three nominees for this year’s Patriots Hall of Fame balloting, which is done by the fans.

The results have not been tabulated, nor, obviously, announced, so those debates will be for another time.

jdonalds@projo.com