Bill Belichick snubbed by Hall of Fame: Could Tom Brady face same outcome?

The Pro Football Hall of Fame may as well stitch a “B” on every gold jacket it hands out from now until the end of time as a scarlet letter in the aftermath of snubbing Bill Belichick on the first ballot. The bombshell report from ESPN revealing that the legendary head coach, widely considered to be the greatest the NFL has ever seen, was not voted into Canton on the first ballot has rattled the league to its core and has left a permanent stain on the institution. 

It’s bewildering to be in a reality where Belichick is not a first-ballot Hall of Fame inductee, but here we are. Because we live in such a reality, we have to now ask this question: Is Tom Brady next? 

It’s an equally ludicrous thought to consider, but the simple fact is that if it can happen to Belichick, it almost certainly can happen to Brady, the co-pillar to New England’s dynasty. Brady retired after the 2023 season, meaning he will first be eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2028. But will he actually break through? What was once thought to be the most obvious of locks is no longer so obvious. 

“I don’t understand it,” Brady told Seattle Sports on Wednesday when asked to react to Belichick’s snub. “I mean, 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. … 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.”

Let’s look at the reported reasons why Belichick won’t be enshrined on the first ballot. The reporting from ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham cites multiple sources that point to New England’s pair of cheating scandals — Spygate and Deflategate — as key elements as to why Belichick is on the outside looking in. 

“The only explanation [for the outcome] was the cheating stuff,” a veteran Hall voter told ESPN on Tuesday. “It really bothered some of the guys.”

As it relates to Spygate, Belichick was fined $500,000, while the team was docked a first-round draft pick and fined $250,000 as well. Brady was quarterbacking the New England Patriots over this period of alleged videotaping, but did not specifically receive any sort of punishment. Deflategate, however, is a different story entirely. Brady was at the center of that scandal and ended up serving a four-game suspension. 

We won’t dive into how credible the NFL’s findings were over their investigation, the Ideal Gas Law, or The Wells Report in Context. We’re merely pointing out that there is ammunition to dock Brady just like there was with Belichick regarding Spygate. The voters decided to use it against Belichick, and it stands to wonder if they’ll use it towards Brady once he becomes eligible. At this stage, they’d look tremendously hypocritical if they don’t, which further emphasizes how inexcusable and laughable snubbing Belichick was in the first place.