SANTA CLARA, CA – On Tuesday afternoon right around 2:00 p.m. out in California, the entire NBC Sunday Night broadcast team was part of an informal sit down with media members for about an hour.
I had the opportunity to speak with both former Colts head coach Tony Dungy and Mike Florio from Pro Football Talk. I asked them both about Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft not getting into the Hall of Fame. I also asked Dungy what made the Pats so hard to prepare for during the ‘glory days’ and I asked Florio if he believes ‘Spygate’ is still a driving factor behind so much Patriots hate.
Here’s what both had to say:
Dungy
On of he believes Bill Belichick is a Hall of Fame coach
“Yes.”
On if he believes Robert Kraft is a Hall of Famer
“Yes. Absolutely.”
On preparing for the Pats all those years
“They operated at the highest level. They had a vision and they were excellent in what they did. They had a way of galvanizing things. I’ve worked with Rodney Harrison for the last seven, eight years and he tells me about the focus and how they did things. It’s just amazing. For an organization to be on top for that long, you just don’t see that. It has to start with the leadership. It has to start at the top and it did with Mr. Kraft and Bill.”
On if he’s learned anything about those Pats teams from Harrison
“Yeah, we’ve talked a lot. We’ve always had mutual respect. We were competitors that admired and really respected each other. I’ve talked with Rodney about how they did things and it even galvanized that a little bit more, yeah.”
Florio
On Spygate
“I think Spygate becomes a convenient excuse for people who just don’t like Bill Belichick. I think it’s as simple…because, Belichick’s a Hall of Fame coach. So, if you dislike him, then you strain to come up with a reason to not put him in. I think enough of the voters just personally dislike him, so they came up with whatever it was. Whether it’s Spygate, whether it’s his record without Tom Brady, whatever the case may be. It’s an embarrassment I think for the Hall of Fame. It undermines the integrity of the NFL that Bill Belichick didn’t get in. They need to have safeguards in place for certain candidates so they can say to the voters ‘are you guys sure this is what you want to do? You understand, we’ve counted the votes, he’s not getting in? We want to be sure everyone in this room is comfortable with what happens next. Is everyone ok with that?’ Then, you have one last chance to put the guy in.”
On RKK not getting in again and if he believes Tom Brady may have to wait as well
“Well, I think Brady will get in. I think what happened with Belichick and the blowback from that makes it easier for Brady to get in. It’s not going to be an issue for Brady. He’s going to sail in. He’s mic drop, no-brainer, first ballot Hall of Famer, like Belichick should have been. Kraft’s in a different pocket because he wasn’t coaching, he wasn’t playing. With Kraft, I look at it very simply, if Jerry Jones is in, Robert Kraft should be in. I think it illustrates how difficult it is to navigate the process to get there. But, if Jerry Jones is in, Kraft should be in. I know it’s not nearly that simple and I don’t know what would have happened if each of the five guys were competing against each other were subject to a thumbs up or thumbs down vote. I don’t know if Kraft would have gotten 80%, but if Jerry Jones is in, Kraft should be in.”