BOSTON (AP) – Stanley Morgan hasn’t played for the Patriots since 1989, so he wasn’t sure if the New England fans who have witnessed the team’s recent success would remember him.

Morgan, a four-time Pro Bowl selection and the team’s all-time leader in receiving touchdowns and yards, will become the 12th member of the Patriots Hall of Fame in an induction ceremony on Aug. 27.

“When you go out and you come back and you win three Super Bowls, it’s a big accomplishment,” Morgan said Friday on a conference call to announce his induction. “We had great teams back when I was playing … but to really see the fans say, ‘Hey, we remember that the Patriots had a pretty decent team in the ’70s and the ’80s,’ that just brings a smile to my face.”

He is the first pure receiver to go into the team’s hall; Gino Cappelletti was also a kicker.

Morgan is the Patriots’ all-time leader with 68 touchdowns, 10,352 receiving yards, 39 100-yard receiving games and three 1,000-yard receiving seasons. He ranks second with 534 receptions; he was the team’s all-time leader until Troy Brown passed him last season.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft took the opportunity to campaign for Morgan’s induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

“There are 18 receivers in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and only one (Paul Warfield) has a higher career average than Stanley’s 19.2 yards per catch,” Kraft said. “He was really a great player and always a fan favorite.”

Three finalists were determined by a nominating committee of media, Patriots Hall of Famers and team staff. Fans voting online picked Morgan over Ben Coates and Ron Burton.

“I think Ben Coates is one of the top tight ends in the league,” Morgan said. “I never really had a chance to see Ron Burton play, but I have heard a lot of good things about him from some guys that actually played with him. So I knew there were three great prospects there.”

A native of Easley, S.C., Morgan went to Tennessee and was selected with the 25th overall pick in the 1977 draft. He averaged a career-high 24.1 yards per catch in 1978 and earned his first Pro Bowl berth after leading the NFL with 12 touchdown catches and totaling 1,002 yards.

Morgan had his best year in 1986, when he led the AFC with 1,491 receiving yards – still the franchise record.

Having played at Tennessee and Indianapolis as well as New England, Morgan was asked to pick sides in the debate between Tom Brady of the Patriots and Peyton Manning, the former Volunteers quarterback who led the Colts to the 2007 Super Bowl title.

“Being in New England, I have to go with Tom Brady,” Morgan said. “He has proven himself over and over again. He is a great quarterback. He knows how to win the big games. You just have to look at it from that standpoint.

“Peyton is a great quarterback. This past year he was been able to get over the hump, which has always been against New England. I think you have to put Brady at the top because Brady has done it time and time again.”

The Patriots Hall of Fame is scheduled to open a permanent home next year.

AP-ES-08-03-07 1631EDT