Sam Cunningham is the leading rusher in franchise history. (AP)

FOXBORO — On Monday, I was lucky enough to be asked to take part in the voting process to determine the list of finalists for this year’s Patriots Hall of Fame class, as well as vote on the All-Decade Team for the 2000s. (Both lists should be out shortly, and fans will be able to vote on the list of finalists for the Hall of Fame at Patriots.com.)

It was tremendous being in a room with other esteemed panelists, and an honor to be included with men who have a deep tradition associated with the franchise. First, we kicked around the All-Decade Team — most of the positions, there wasn’t much debate, but there was some good back-and-forth about the offensive tackle, punter and kick and punt return positions.

The voting process on the list of finalists for the Hall of Fame was terrific. Players and coaches who had been retired for at least four years are eligible for Hall of Fame consideration, which this year, means any ex-Patriots player or head coach who retired from the NFL prior to the 2006 season.

The discussion, which lasted for roughly two hours, generated some good talk, particularly about how difficult it was to try and differentiate and compare players from different eras — for example, measuring the greatness of someone such as Jon Morris against Pete Brock, individuals who played center for the Patriots in distinctly different eras.

In addition, based on the discussions that were held Monday, some other names you might see among the finalists include Julius Adams, Houston Antwine, Larry Eisenhauer, Sam Cunningham, Leon Gray and Raymond Clayborn. It was fantastic for a younger guy like me to learn new things about some of the guys I had only seen via NFL Films footage.

I can tell you that included in my list of three finalists was Cunningham. I went into the discussion believing that the 1978 team needed to be recognized — particularly the running game — for its amazing achievement of 3,165 rushing yards on the season, still a single-season record for an NFL team. And the fact that Cunningham was the leading rusher on that team (and was not yet a part of the Hall) made him the best candidate for induction, at least in my book. (Cunningham already had the chops to make it as part of the Patriots’ 35th and 50th anniversary teams, as well as the All-Century team.)

The USC product, who played in New England from 1973-79 and 1981-82, remains the leading rusher in the history of the franchise with 5,453 yards. He also has the most rushing attempts in franchise history (1,385) and is second in rushing TDs (43) and tied for eighth in yards per carry (3.9).

Numbers aside, Bert Breer from the Boston Globe also makes a pretty good argument that Cunningham’s ability to bring about a change in racial sensibilities throughout the SEC should figure into the argument for his induction.