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SAN FRANCISCO — Terrell Owens has stirred up debate by suggesting that Tom Brady should not be an automatic first-ballot inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2028.
In a conversation with The California Post on Wednesday, Owens expressed his opinion that if New England Patriots’ figures Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft are not immediately inducted into the Hall, then Brady should face a similar wait for his induction when the time comes.
“To be honest,” Owens remarked while representing Sharpie at Super Bowl LX Radio Row, “if Belichick and Kraft aren’t first-ballot Hall of Famers, then Brady shouldn’t be either.”
Owens clarified his stance, emphasizing that his comments were not a personal attack on Brady. “Why should Brady be inducted in 2028 if Kraft and Belichick aren’t given that honor immediately?” he questioned.
Owens further elaborated, “Sure, Brady is a great quarterback, but his success is intertwined with Kraft’s decision to draft him and Belichick’s coaching. Their achievements are interconnected. So, if they aren’t inducted right away, why should Brady be?”
“He shouldn’t go in either.”
Brady’s resume, of course, says otherwise. In 23 NFL seasons, he won seven Super Bowls, earned MVP honors three times and was selected to the Pro Bowl on 15 different occasions. He also ended his time in the league with numerous records, including most-ever passing yards (89,214) and passing touchdowns (649).
But Belichick’s resume was just as a strong, and once he didn’t get in on his first go-around this week, Owens made it clear Brady shouldn’t either, especially if things like Spygate and Deflategate played roles in the coach’s slight.
“If you want to bring up the idea of cheating, Tom Brady did the Deflategate,” Owens said. “Like, he had to serve a suspension because there was something he was doing. That’s cheating. That was proven. He got suspended. He did something. Otherwise, he would have never got suspended.
“So, how do you put Tom in on the first go-around, but you don’t put these two in?”
Owens famously had his own battle with the Hall of Fame nearly a decade ago.
Despite statistics that suggest he’s one of the greatest receivers to ever play in the league, it took until his third try in 2018 to get his bronze bust.
He said on Wednesday the whole selection process is still “ridiculous” and a “travesty,” and he’d love to see big changes going forward.
“They need to put something in place in order for the Hall of Fame to be legit,” Owens said. “Because at this rate, it’s getting out of hand.
“The writers, they’re having too much power of the pen.”