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Terrell Owens claims Tom Brady shouldn't be first-ballot Hall of Famer

IMG_6598by: Nick Kosko02/04/26nickkosko59

Terrell Owens claimed Tom Brady shouldn’t be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, in light of Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft not getting in the Class of 2026. Belichick was shockingly not elected this year, his first on the ballot.

He’s still coaching though, preparing for Year 2 at North Carolina. But, Owens shifted the conversation to Brady, who’s been retired since post-2022 season and now works at FOX as the top color analyst.

If Belichick and Kraft aren’t in during their first try, neither should Brady, Owens claimed. Owens has his own beef with the Pro Football Hall of Fame, to which he is a member of ironically.

“Honestly, if you’re looking at it,” Owens said, via the New York Post. “If Belichick doesn’t go in and Robert Kraft doesn’t go in first ballot, Tom Brady shouldn’t go in.  I’m just being real. It’s nothing against him. How can you have Tom Brady go in when he’s up in 2028? Why would he go in if Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick don’t go in on the first go-around? 

“Because to be quite honest, yeah, is Tom Brady a good quarterback? Yeah. He’s not the quarterback he is without Robert Kraft drafting him. He’s not the quarterback he is without Bill Belichick. They all go hand-in-hand. So to me, why would he go in and those two don’t? He shouldn’t go in either.”

Owens was inducted in 2018, not getting in during his first two years of eligibility. The former wide receiver claimed it was because of his off the field issues and persona, plus a personal vendetta against him from NFL media members. He even held his own induction ceremony at his alma mater Chattanooga and skipped the ceremony in Canton, Ohio, becoming the only member to do so to date.

Does he have a point about Brady and his contemporaries? Maybe. But Brady ranks at the top of all QB statistics, is regarded as the greatest quarterback of all-time and has seven Super Bowl titles in 10 appearances with the Patriots and Bucs.

Brady is eligible for the Class of 2028, which will be his first year on the ballot. Will he get in right away? Logic says he should, but it also said that about Belichick, who has to wait until at least 2027.