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With Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft both missing out on being first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famers, ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith got to thinking — what happens when Tom Brady can be voted on?
The legendary quarterback, who spent two decades leading a dynasty with the New England Patriots, has all-time NFL records and seven Super Bowl rings to boot. If there’s anyone fit to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, it’s Brady.
But that was until Belichick, his head coach in New England, shockingly missed out on his trip to Canton on his first ballot. Waves of displeasure with the Hall of Fame came crashing down, and the conversation rose during Super Bowl week, where the Patriots find themselves back in the big game, as Kraft didn’t earn enough votes either.
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(L-R) Tom Brady and Stephen A. Smith speak onstage at the Fanatics Fest NYC 2024 at Jacob Javits Center on Aug. 16, 2024 in New York City. (Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)
Smith went on ESPN’s “First Take” to pose a question to his fellow panelists.
“What you going to do next? You’re going to deny Tom Brady? You’re going to deny Tom Brady? You’re going to look at Tom Brady and be like this, ‘You don’t go to the Hall of Fame?'” Smith said to the group.
“You might as well burn down the building if that happens — there is no Hall of Fame. If you can’t have Tom Brady up in there as a first-ballot Hall of Famer, the credibility of the institution that is the Hall of Fame goes right out the freaking window. It’s over. We understand that, right?”
PATRIOTS’ ROBERT KRAFT MISSES OUT ON PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME: REPORTS
Smith also spoke about Kraft missing out, as he was also part of the now infamous five-man group that included senior candidates — L.C. Greenwood, Roger Craig and Ken Anderson — and Belichick. Voters were only allowed to elect three of the candidates for the Hall this year, leading some voters to choose the seniors due to their potential final chance to reach Canton.
“I wasn’t surprised, I was appalled,” Smith said about the Kraft news that came out on Tuesday. “Obviously, he deserves to be a Hall of Famer. He’s been the owner for 32 years. In 32 years, he has 13 more regular-season games, 13 more postseason games than any other NFL team for carrying out loud. This is a man who’s won 20 division titles in 32 seasons. This is a man, that in his 32-year reign as the owner, they’ve been to the Super Bowl with three different head coach-quarterback combinations. Bill Parcells and Drew Bledsoe, Belichick with Brady, and now [Mike] Vrabel with Drake Maye. This is the man that has been at the helm.
Fox Sports analyst Tom Brady arrives at the stadium before an NFL game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, on Sept. 14, 2025. (Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
“We all know it’s egregious, we all know it’s absolutely disgusting. The Hall of Fame should be the ‘Hall of Shame.’ They’ve minimized and diluted their own product, and they don’t even know how badly they’ve done it as of yet.”
Smith doesn’t want the “trend” to continue with Brady, but he is linked to those Patriots years when scandals like Spygate and Deflategate, which reportedly worked their way into the voting debate for Belichick, and perhaps Kraft as well.
“Let’s take Spygate, let’s take Deflategate, let’s take all of that. What coach would say Bill Belichick doesn’t deserve to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer? No one. What owner would say Robert Kraft doesn’t deserve to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer? No one,” Smith added.
Fox broadcaster Tom Brady is seen before the game between the Detroit Lions and the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on Dec. 14, 2025. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
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“You couldn’t find a player in Pop Warner that would tell you Tom Brady doesn’t deserve to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, let alone high school, college, pro. There is no athlete in any sport on the planet, in America or the world over, that would tell you Tom Brady ain’t a first-ballot Hall of Famer.”
Modern-era candidates are eligible for the Hall of Fame five years after retirement, which means Brady won’t be able to get elected into Canton until 2028. However, that’s still a pretty close time frame.
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