New England Patriots
“Tom Brady is best described as Lance Armstrong without the bicycle.”
Much of the sports world has been up in arms after Bill Belichick was reportedly snubbed in his first year on the Pro Football Hall of Fame ballot.
Former ESPN pundit Rob Parker isn’t among those who believe that Belichick — who won eight total Super Bowls as a coach with the Patriots and Giants — deserves a spot in Canton.
For Parker, Belichick’s snub is rooted in his involvement in both “Spygate” and “Deflategate” – which ESPN’s Seth Wickersham and Don Van Natta Jr. cited, via sources, as one of the reasons certain voters on the hall’s 50-person committee did not grant him a gold jacket during this voting cycle.
Longtime NFL reporter Armando Salguero — who presented Belichick as a Hall-of-Fame candidate to the committee earlier this month, agreed with that sentiment on NBC Sports Boston.
“I presented him”” Salguero said Wednesday on the network’s “Arbella Early Edition”. “I did not mention Spygate in the presentation. Then debate happened. There were a lot of Spygate mentions in the debate, and then I get the final say, in which I presented a Spygate rebuttal.
“I’ll tell you right now: The reason that Bill Belichick is not in the Hall of Fame as a first ballot Hall of Famer is Spygate. Period. Next.”
But Parker doesn’t believe that Belichick is the only one who should serve a penance for Spygate.
During an appearance on “The Stephen A. Smith Show” on Wednesday, Parker said that Tom Brady should be denied a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame due to scandals surrounding the Patriots organization.
“Where is the punishment? Shouldn’t there be some integrity, honesty in the Hall of Fame?” Parker asked. “I think it goes hand in hand. Pete Rose is not in the Hall of Fame, Barry Bonds is not in the Hall of Fame, Roger Clemens is not in the Hall of Fame. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady should not be in the Hall of Fame either.”
“Tom Brady shouldn’t be a first-ballot Hall of Famer?” Smith asked.
“No way, no how,” Parker added. “Tom Brady is best described as Lance Armstrong without the bicycle. They cheated. They cheated. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are connected at the hip, this is what should happen. Look at Robert Kraft. He’s been denied 13 years in a row. He’s not in the Hall of Fame as an owner.”
This is far from the first time Parker has gone after Brady and the Patriots.
After the Patriots triumphed over the Chiefs in the 2018 AFC Championship, New England released a video on X highlighting Parker’s failed prediction that the Patriots’ “reign of terror will finally be over” after that showdown at Arrowhead Stadium.
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