Tom Brady has weighed in on Bill Belichick not getting into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
During an appearance on Seattle Sports’ “Brock & Salk,” Brady — who played for Belichick for 20 of his 23 NFL seasons with the New England Patriots — defended his former coach with a one-minute answer.
Here it is in full:
“I don’t understand it. I was with him every day. If he’s not a first-ballot Hall of Famer, there’s really no coach that should ever be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, which is completely ridiculous because people deserve it. And he’s incredible. There’s no coach I’d rather play for. If I’m picking one coach to go out there to win a Super Bowl, give me one season, I’m taking Bill Belichick. So that’s enough said. There’s nothing outside of that.
“When it comes down to votes and popularity and all that, then welcome to the world of voting and you may as well go try out for the Oscars or whatever and get a big panel to tell you if you’re good or not. So it’s the way it works.
“He’s going to get into the Hall of Fame in the end. I’m not worried about that. And a lot of times in life, for all of us, things don’t happen exactly how you want to run your timeline, but we’ll all be there to celebrate him when it does happen. And he’s going to have a huge turnout from so many players, coaches that appreciated everything that he did and the commitment that he made to winning and the impact that he had on all our lives. And that’ll be a great celebration when it happens.”
Brady, along with Belichick, helped lead New England to six Super Bowl championships across two dynasties in the 2000s.
Despite a résumé with eight total Super Bowls, 302 regular-season wins and a slew of league and team records, it wasn’t enough for some voters to let the 72-year-old in on the first try.
Several of Belichick’s former players voiced their displeasure with the decision, while others like Patrick Mahomes, LeBron James and Dick Vitale took to social media to share the same sentiments.
Much of the reaction came after it was revealed former Indianapolis Colts general manager Bill Polian lobbied for voters to make Belichick “wait a year” as punishment for Spygate.
Polian, one of the 50 voters for the 2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame class, denied the report about an hour after ESPN’s report surfaced in a conversation with SI’s Matt Verderame, calling it “categorically untrue” and said he voted for Belichick.
However, in a separate conversation with ESPN’s Don Van Natta, Polian claimed he couldn’t remember if he voted for Belichick, and said he was 95% sure, but couldn’t say with 100% certainty.
Story by Lauren Campbell, MassLive.com.