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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 gets voted in?
The legendary quarterback, who spent two decades leading a dynasty with the New England Patriots, holds all-time NFL passing records and seven Super Bowl rings. If anyone is 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 his trip to Canton on his first ballot. 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 earn 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 pose a question to his fellow panelists.
“What are 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, ‘You’re not going to the Hall of Fame?'” Smith told the group.
“You might as well burn the building down if that happens — 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 right out the damn window. It’s over. We get it, right?”
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Smith also talked about Kraft missing out when he was also part of the now infamous five-man group that included senior 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, prompting some voters to select the seniors because of their potential final chance to reach Canton.
“I wasn’t surprised, I was shocked,” Smith said of the Kraft news that came out 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 high performance. This is a man who has won 20 division titles in 32 seasons. This is a foreign man who owns in his 32 years. to the Super Bowl with three different head coach-quarterback combos and Drew Bledsoe, Belichick with Brady and now [Mike] Vrabel with Drake Maye. It is the man who has been at the helm.
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 creepy, 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 bad they’ve done it yet.”
Smith doesn’t want the “trend” to continue with Brady, but he is linked to the Patriots years of scandals like Spygate and Deflategate that reportedly worked their way into the voting debate for Belichick, and perhaps Kraft.
“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? Nobody. What owner would say Robert Kraft doesn’t deserve to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer? Nobody,” 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 December 14, 2025. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
“You couldn’t find a player in Pop Warner that would tell you that 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 that would tell you that Tom Brady is not a first-ballot Hall of Famer.”
Modern-era inductees are eligible for the Hall of Fame five years after retirement, meaning Brady won’t be able to be elected to Canton until 2028. That’s still a pretty tight time frame, though.
