Gronk says that if Belichick’s not 1st-ballot Hall of Famer, neither is Andy Reid
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Gronkowski: Belichick’s omission means no coach should be first-ballot.
- Belichick has six Super Bowls and 333 career wins but was omitted from Hall class.
- Gronk notes Reid has 307 wins and 3 Super Bowls but says he can’t be first-ballot now.
Rob Gronkowski has a new Pro Football Hall of Fame standard:
If his former coach with the New England Patriots, Bill Belichick, isn’t a first-ballot Hall of Fame selection, no coach is.
That includes — specifically, in Gronk’s estimation — Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid.
“There’s a guy out there, Andy Reid, but he can’t go first-ballot now,” Gronkowski said during a Thursday interview with frontofficesports.com at Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara, California.
The Seattle Seahawks are playing the Patriots on Sunday for the 2025 season’s NFL championship.
The 2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame class was scheduled to be announced during Thursday evening’s “NFL Honors” broadcast. But it’s been known for a week that Belichick, in his first year of eligibility, will not be part of the class despite ample credentials supporting his case.
Belichick’s teams won six Super Bowls in nine appearances. And his 333 career-victories total, including the playoffs, ranks second all-time. Gronkowski won three of his four Super Bowl rings as a tight end with Belichick’s Patriots.
Reid ranks fourth on the list, with 307 victories, and his Chiefs teams have won three Super Bowls in five appearances. He went to another Super Bowl, prior to his time in Kansas City, as the Philadelphia Eagles’ head coach.
Belichick’s omission from this year’s class has drawn criticism from the football world, and Gronkowski joined that chorus in his interview.
Here is his response when asked about Belichick:
“Ridiculous, ridiculous,” Gronkowski said. “Coach Belichick needs to be in the Hall of Fame, and it needed to be a first ballot. Now, there’s no such thing as a first-ballot Hall of Fame coach. No other coach ever in history should go first ballot.
“And there’s a guy out there, Andy Reid, but he can’t go first ballot now because coach Belichick wasn’t first ballot.”
This story was originally published February 5, 2026 at 12:38 PM.