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Tony Dungy’s refusal to discuss his Pro Football Hall of Fame vote has got people talking.
First, his own NBC colleague Rodney Harrison appeared to take a swipe at Dungy during the Super Bowl pregame show, saying “You guys were wrong” not to vote for Bill Belichick.
Dungy has not said whether he voted for Belichick, citing an “oath” he took to avoid discussing behind-the-scenes actions. Dungy is of course allowed to reveal his own voice, but not someone else’s.
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New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy embrace after the Patriots’ 24-14 victory over the Colts in the AFC Championship Game at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Sports News via Getty Images)
But Dungy’s silence on his own ballot led to New York Yankees play-by-play announcer and New York radio host Michael Kay ripping him.
“Tony Dungy, again, who is paid by NBC, was asked on the endless pregame show if he voted for Bill Belichick or not. He said he wouldn’t discuss it. First of all, if I’m NBC, I’d fire him on the spot,” Kay said on his own show Monday. “We pay you whatever amount we pay you. You discuss it. What’s your value to us if you make news and you don’t discuss it with us? I mean, because he doesn’t discuss it, you know he’s one of the 11 people who didn’t vote in Bill Belichick. …
“You do something that’s a big part of history. You keep the greatest coach of all time from being a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and you don’t have the guts to discuss it? You have the guts to say, ‘Nah, I don’t want to discuss it.’ Why not? Why don’t you want to discuss it? It just doesn’t make sense to me. I think it makes him look really bad. And for a guy who has a pretty much pristine reputation, [he] doesn’t look good with this.”
Former NFL coach Tony Dungy watches from the sidelines during the 2025 NFL game between the Atlanta Falcons and the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium on October 19, 2025 in Santa Clara, California. (Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
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Out of the category that Belichick was in – with Robert Kraft, Roger Craig, Ken Anderson and LC Greenwood – he didn’t get enough votes. Craig was the only one voted into the Hall of Fame from this group.
Despite Dungy not revealing his own vote, he discussed the process to some extent.
“People think we voted against Bill Belichick,” Dungy said. “We didn’t. In fact, the same exact vote. In fact, if the same exact vote had taken place, the same totals as two years ago, Bill Belichick would have been in and so would another deserving Hall of Famer, and that’s why I’m upset. It’s not right.”
Tony Dungy of the Indianapolis Colts reacts after giving up a first quarter touchdown to the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI on February 4, 2007 at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
Belichick won eight Super Bowls during his time in the NFL – six with the New England Patriots and two as defensive coordinator for the New York Giants.
