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Tom Brady publicly defends his former coach
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The former New England Patriots star thinks Bill Belichick should be on the first ballot for the Pro Football Hall of Fame
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On Tuesday, news broke that current North Carolina head coach Belichick failed to garner enough votes in his first year of eligibility.
Tom Brady is standing up for his former coach Bill Belichick, who was passed over for induction into the Hall of Fame on Tuesday.
The seven-time Super Bowl champion — who won six titles with the former New England Patriots head coach — advocated for Belichick to be included on the first ballot for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, according to NFL beat writer and Hall of Fame voter Armando Salguero.
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In a speech to Hall of Fame voters, the sportswriter shared a statement on behalf of Brady, now a lead analyst for Fox Sports, in which he called the 73-year-old Belichick his “most influential coach.”
“I don’t think any coach in the history of the game has done more to be in the Hall of Fame than Bill Belichick,” Brady, 48, said in a statement. “To say he was the coach who influenced me the most is an understatement. His exceptional leadership, vision and daily discipline have allowed our franchise to excel in nearly every area for nearly two decades. We competed at the highest level every week because he challenged us to grow from the beginning to the end of the season. That’s the role of a head coach, and that’s Bill Belichick.”
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Brady went on to say that he had “a front-row seat for 20 years watching the greatest coach of all time” and that he belonged in Canton.
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“I’m grateful for what we accomplished together and I will always be proud of the team we built,” Brady said. “There is no one more deserving of this honor than Coach Belichick.”
Belichick’s snub shocked other prominent athletes, including Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, who spoke out in the news, calling Belichick’s exclusion “shocking.”
“Crazy…don’t even understand how this is possible,” Mahomes, 30, wrote on X .
Belichick will become the fifth head coach to be inducted into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot.
But two of his past scandals may have swayed voters, according to ESPN.
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Multiple sources told the outlet that the “Spygate” and “Deflategate” cheating scandals during the Patriots’ championship run had come up in voters’ deliberations.
Still, the Tar Heels coach was reportedly surprised by the news that he would have to wait at least another year before being hired.
“Aren’t six Super Bowls enough?” Belichick asked a colleague, according to ESPN. To another, he asked rhetorically: “What must one do?”
Read the original article on People