When it came to Rodney Harrison, there was never any doubt he was a leader.

It can be a sticky situation for a new guy to come in and try and assume the role of a leader: they have to walk a fine line between knowing their place and occasionally offering some well-placed wisdom. But from the moment he walked into the Gillette Stadium facility in 2003, it was clear Harrison was able to find that perfect combination of deference to the established vets and defiance of what he saw was an old way of doing things. He grew quickly into the role of leader, and that status was cemented shortly before the start of the season when the Patriots cut loose fellow safety Lawyer Milloy. In the wake of the move, Harrison called all the young defensive backs together and delivered some veteran wisdom: take care of your money, young men, because this is a business.

Since Harrison retired after the 2008 season – two Super Bowls titles and an 18-1 season later -- the Patriots have been able to find a handful of aging players who have come in and instantly been identified as leaders on their new team: Alge Crumpler, Gerard Warren, Brian Waters and Junior Seau. However, they’ve never been able to replicate Harrison’s impact on the rest of New England’s defensive backs in terms of veteran leadership. (The secondary hasn’t exactly been rudderless -- Devin McCourty made terrific strides as a defensive leader in that regard late in 2012 -- but there’s been no wise old veteran like Harrison who can be the sort of positive veteran influence needed on an occasionally erratic group of defensive backs.) It’s not like they haven’t tried -- the Patriots swung and missed on veteran corner Shawn Springs in 2009, as well as a few others. It just never clicked like it did with Rodney.

And so, into this mix comes Adrian Wilson, another veteran defensive back with well-known leadership skills who arrives to Foxboro relatively late in his professional career. Wilson, who was cut loose earlier this offseason by the Cardinals, was held in such high esteem by the ownership in Arizona they felt the need to issue a statement upon his release. Cards president Michael Bidwill made it clear we weren’t talking about any ordinary safety -- he said Wilson will always have an important place in franchise history, helping transform the team from punchline to NFC champion and hailing Wilson’s “iconic status.”

Heady talk when you’re referring to a defensive back, but it’s the same sort of language that was coming out of Southern California in the spring of 2003 when the Chargers cut loose Harrison. In 2003, San Diego columnist Nick Canepa decried the Chargers loss of Harrison, saying that, “when people talk about Southern Californians being soft, they forget Gen. Patton was born just up the road, and Rodney Harrison played football for the Chargers. Played it like a madman. Played it with passion. Played it with little regard for his own well-being, which may have been his downfall.”

Is it fair to draw a line between Harrison and Wilson -- to ask him to be the next Rodney? Probably not, but in the context of this conversation, it’s worth noting that both are in-the-box safeties who arrived in Foxboro on the wrong side of 30, with a rep for big hits and solid locker room character -- but in desperate need of a professional jumpstart at a key point in their careers.

And both Harrison and Wilson were clearly starstruck when they found out they were being pursued by Bill Belichick. Harrison can recall he was about sign with the Raiders when Belichick called him, and the safety got on a plane and met the Patriots braintrust for dinner at Ground Round. While Wilson’s courtship probably didn’t involve popcorn on the floor or delicious casual dining at reasonable family-friendly prices, the former Cards safety didn’t mince any words when it came to what he thought of Belichick and the Patriots.

“Whenever Coach Belichick calls, you answer -- that’s not a call that you send to voicemail,” Wilson said.

“[He] was very upfront, and I have nothing but total respect for him and what the organization has done throughout the years. New England was definitely my first choice. I don’t know what all the reports were saying that I wanted to stay out West, but that wasn’t true. It wasn’t a hard sell, but at the same time, talking to coach Belichick and kind of getting an understanding of what he wanted from me, I just felt like it was the right fit.”

However, when asked about the Harrison comparison, Wilson maneuvered delicately, saying, “I really want to stay away from the whole Rodney Harrison comparison.”

“He’s a great player,” Wilson added. “He’s done a lot in this league; he’s probably going to go into the Hall of Fame. I’m just trying to find out what my role is for the Patriots and just compete with all the rest of the guys and hopefully I’ll have a role on the team.”

However, Wilson certainly wasn’t shy when asked about leadership. On Thursday, he sounded like a man who was taking a page out of Harrison’s book when asked how he was able to grow and mature and evolve as a leader over the course of his career.

“I was a follower first. I was a guy that first came into the league, I watched veteran guys that were already on the team,” he said. “I took my backseat to learn from all those guys and molded myself into what I wanted to be as a player. To be on a team that wasn’t very good coming in, really adds to it a lot more as far as film study. We weren’t playing with 10-plus Pro Bowl players on the team, so a lot of our work was probably a lot more than what the other teams that were good was.”

And regardless of whether or not he’ll be able to play a lick this season, if you’re a Patriots fan, the following quote should be the sort of thing that’ll make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

“The commitment level that I have to not only playing the game as far as playing football, but also the commitment to the classroom and doing what you have to do in the film study and making sure that you’re on the same page with all the rest of the guys and making sure you understand each guy’s strengths and each guy’s weaknesses ... I feel like once you have that, you can go out there and play anybody and be successful.”

No, he’s not Rodney -- not yet, anyway. But he’s already a long way from Shawn Springs.