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With Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft missing out on first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Fame membership, ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith got to thinking: What will happen when Tom Brady can be voted on?
The legendary quarterback, who spent two decades leading a dynasty with the New England Patriots, holds all-time NFL records and seven Super Bowl rings to boot. If there’s anyone eligible to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, it’s Brady.
But that was until Belichick, his head coach in New England, surprisingly missed his trip to Canton on his first ballot. The waves of discontent with the Hall of Fame crashed and the conversation increased during Super Bowl week, where the Patriots find themselves back in the big game, as Kraft also didn’t get enough votes.
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(L-R) Tom Brady and Stephen A. Smith speak on stage at Fanatics Fest NYC 2024 at the Jacob Javits Center on August 16, 2024 in New York City. (Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)
Smith went on ESPN’s “First Take” to ask his fellow panelists a question.
“What are you going to do next? Are you going to deny Tom Brady? Are you going to deny Tom Brady? Are you going to look at Tom Brady and say this: ‘You’re not going to the Hall of Fame?'” Smith told the group.
“If that happens, you might as well burn the building down; there’s no Hall of Fame. If you can’t have Tom Brady in there as a first-ballot Hall of Famer, the credibility of the institution that is the Hall of Fame goes out the damn window. It’s over. We get it, right?”
PATRIOTS’ ROBERT KRAFT MISSING FROM PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME: REPORTS
Smith also talked about Kraft missing out, as he was also part of the now infamous five-man group that included high-profile candidates (LC Greenwood, Roger Craig and Ken Anderson) and Belichick. Voters were only allowed to choose three of the candidates for the Hall this year, leading some voters to choose the seniors due to their possible last chance to make it to Canton.
“I wasn’t surprised, I was shocked,” Smith said of the Kraft news that broke Tuesday. “Obviously, he deserves to be a Hall of Famer. He’s been an owner for 32 years. In 32 years, he has 13 more regular season games, 13 more postseason games than any other team in the NFL because of his loud performance. This is a man who has won 20 division titles in 32 seasons. This is a man who in his 32-year reign as owner, has been to the Super Bowl with three different coaches and quarterback combinations. Bill Parcells and Drew Bledsoe, Belichick with Brady and now. [Mike] Vrabel with Drake Maye. This is the man who has been in charge.
Fox Sports analyst Tom Brady arrives at the stadium before an NFL game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, on September 14, 2025. (Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
“We all know it’s atrocious, we all know it’s absolutely disgusting. The Hall of Fame should be the ‘Hall of Shame.’ They’ve downplayed and diluted their own product, and they don’t even know how bad they’ve done so far.”
Smith doesn’t want the “trend” to continue with Brady, but it’s linked to those Patriots years when scandals like Spygate and Deflategate, which supposedly made their way into the debate over voting for Belichick, and perhaps Kraft as well.
“Take Spygate, take Deflategate, take all of that. What coach would say Bill Belichick doesn’t deserve to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer? Nobody. What owner would say Robert Kraft doesn’t deserve to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer? Nobody,” Smith added.
Fox host Tom Brady is seen before the game between the Detroit Lions and the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California on December 14, 2025. (Kirby Lee/Image Images)
“You couldn’t find a player in Pop Warner who would tell you that Tom Brady doesn’t deserve to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, let alone high school, college, professional. There isn’t an athlete in any sport on the planet, in America or around the world, who will tell you that Tom Brady isn’t a first-ballot Hall of Famer.”
Modern-era candidates are eligible for the Hall of Fame five years after they retire, meaning Brady won’t be eligible for election in Canton until 2028. That’s still a pretty close time frame, though.
