NFL Hall of Famer Terrell Owens said Wednesday that recent snubs from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and former coach Bill Belichick show the system is broken and someone needs to be held accountable.
“It’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 victory against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, the franchise would have the most Super Bowl victories of any NFL team with seven. Belichick served as the team’s head coach in all six of its championship victories, including one against Owens’ Philadelphia Eagles.
2018 Hall of Fame inductee Terrell Owens speaks during a halftime ceremony of the game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Oakland Raiders at Levi’s Stadium on November 1, 2018 in Santa Clara, California.
Daniel Shirey | Getty Images
Owens suggested it might be Jim Porter, the Hall of Fame president, who would have the power to change the system.
“It needs to change or make adjustments or amendments to the criteria or the mission statement of the Hall of Fame. Something needs to be done,” Owens said.
He also placed blame on the writers responsible for the vote.
“Whoever put the guidelines and the bylaws in place to ultimately put the coaches and athletes in the most prestigious place you can have, and that’s Canton. If the people that you’ve appointed are not adhering to that, then something is wrong. They should be held accountable. They should be removed from office,” 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 a thing or two 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 being ranked near the top in nearly every receiving category. Owens said it cost him financially.
“Being truly a first-ballot Hall of Famer presents a lot of complicated financial opportunities. It sounds,” he added. “It used to mean so much, and now it seems to be a little watered down.”
When he was inducted into the Hall of Fame, Owens chose to skip the celebration in Canton, Ohio, and hold his own celebration at the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga, his alma mater, to protest what he called a “flawed process,” according to ESPN.