Terrell Owens over Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft shrugs

Recent criticism of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and former coach Bill Belichick from the organization shows the system is flawed, and someone must be held accountable, NFL Hall of Fame player Terrell Owens said Wednesday.

“He’s just stupid,” Owens told CNBC Sport in an interview in San Francisco before Super Bowl LX. “Something has to change.”

The decisions not to vote Kraft and Belichick into the Pro Football Hall of Fame raised eyebrows because of the Patriots’ success. With a win over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, the franchise will have the most Super Bowl victories of any NFL team with seven. Belichick was the team’s head coach in all six of its championship victories, including a victory over Owens’ Philadelphia Eagles.

Owens suggested that it may be Hall of Famer Jim Porter who has the power to change the system.

“He has to change or make some adjustments or adjustments to the criteria or the mission statement of the Hall of Fame. Something has to be done,” Owens said.

He also blamed the writers responsible for the vote.

“Who set the guidelines and bylaws to ultimately put the coaches and athletes in the finest place you can ever be, which is Canton. If the people who are appointed do not adhere to that, it is wrong. They should be held accountable. They should be stripped of their positions,” he said.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Former six-time Pro Bowler Owens would know something about Hall of Fame voting. Owens played 15 seasons in the NFL and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018 after being passed over twice despite ranking near the top of almost every receiving class. Owens said it cost him financially.

“There are a lot of complicated financial opportunities that come with being a first-ballot Hall of Famer. There is an impact to that,” he added. “It meant a lot, and now it seems like it’s been watered down a bit.”

When he was inducted into the Hall of Fame, Owens chose to skip the ceremony in Canton, Ohio, and instead hold his own ceremony at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, his alma mater, in protest of what he called a “flawed process,” according to ESPN.