Many have addressed the failure of the Hall of Fame selection committee to induct Bill Belichick on his first year of eligibility for enshrinement. One voice that tends to stand out belongs to Belichick's long-time, six-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback, Tom Brady.
Appearing on Seattle Sports 710 AM with Brock & Salk, Brady was asked how he reacted when he heard that Belichick didn't make it.
"You know, it's — I just think that to me it's — I don't understand it," Brady said. "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, which is completely ridiculous, because people deserve it, and he's incredible. There's no coach I'd ever want to play — I'd rather play for. If I'm taking one coach to go out there to win a Super Bowl, give me one season, I'm taking Bill Belichick. So that's enough said.
"There's nothing . . . outside of that, again, when it comes down to votes and popularity and all that . . . then welcome to the world of voting, and we may as well go try out for the Oscars or whatever, and get a big panel to tell you if you're good or not. So, it's the way it works. And unfortunately — he's gonna get into the Hall of Fame. In the end, I'm not worried about that. And a lot of times in life, for all of us, things don't happen exactly how you want them on your timeline, but we'll all be there to celebrate him when it does happen. And he's gonna have a huge turnout from so many players, coaches that appreciated everything that he did and the commitment that he made to winning, and the impact that he had on all our lives, and that'll be a great celebration when it happens."
While we cleaned up the words to make it more readable (dropping the various uses of "you know," for instance), listen to the raw audio. Brady stammered through his first few words as he seemingly gathered thoughts he shouldn't have had to gather, like he did when addressing the Shedeur Sanders draft-day free fall.
So why was Brady being careful? Here's a theory: He knew he needed to vouch for Belichick's first-ballot candidacy. If, however, Brady had spoken too glowingly about Belichick, he would have walked into what would have become an obvious follow-up question.
Why didn't you hire him as the Raiders coach last year, and why aren't you considering him this year?
He still said enough to invite that curiosity. If, as he said, "There's no coach I'd ever want to play — I'd rather play for. If I'm taking one coach to go out there to win a Super Bowl, give me one season, I'm taking Bill Belichick."
Great. Fine. So why aren't you talking to him now?
That's not to say he should be. But it's a more than fair question, given his current role as "close collaborator" with Raiders G.M. John Spytek. Why isn't he on a list of candidates that includes far less accomplished coaches now, and why wasn't he hired instead of Pete Carroll a year ago?
