NFL reporter jabs Bill Belichick during Hall of Fame speech
Belichick's girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, didn't seem to be a fan of the joke, though.
Jokes about Bill Belichick’s relationship with Jordon Hudson have reached the Hall of Fame.
Mary Kay Cabot, who has covered the Browns since 1991 for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, recalled her early years on the Browns beat and covering Belichick’s head coaching career when she accepted the Bill Nunn Memorial Award during the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremonies over the weekend. She first mentioned how she learned to stand up to Belichick, sharing a story of when she called him out.
“Bill Belichick was the first Browns coach I ever covered. You see, if you start with Bill Belichick, no one can rattle you after that,” Cabot said. “If Bill didn’t like something I wrote, he’d call and yell at me. If you asked a dumb question, he’d call you out.
“Eventually, I had to learn to stand up to him. During one of those yelling matches, I told him, ‘If you don’t have the footballs to say that to the guys, then don’t say it to me.’ Bam.”
An applause broke out, but Cabot’s real zinger came right after that.
“But now, I totally understand why Bill gave me such a hard time,” Cabot said. “I was 28 at the time, and he just couldn’t relate to a woman that old.”
That brought out a good laugh from those in attendance at the Gold Jacket Dinner in Canton, Ohio, taking an obvious crack at the age difference between Belichick (73) and his girlfriend (24).
Hudson, however, didn’t seem to like the joke. She reposted a post on X that read, “Not much of a ‘laugh.’ No wonder so many have contempt for the media, especially those who want to be the story rather than roprt [sic] on the story.
Later in her speech, Cabot said she was “grateful” for some of the back-and-forths she had with Belichick early in her career because it “calloused” her for tough times on the Browns beat, such as when she was confronted over a report she made about Colt McCoy playing through a concussion in 2011.
“I wasn’t about to let them break me. I stuck with it,” Cabot said. “The series led to the new NFL concussion protocol, which I knew saved lives.”
The Bill Nunn Memorial Award, which is named after former journalist and NFL scout Bill Nunn, is one of the highest honors given out to NFL writers. The Pro Football Writers of America determine the recipient on an annual basis based on their “long and distinguished contribution to pro football through coverage.” Cabot became just the second woman to ever receive the award.
As Cabot had her Hall of Fame moment over the weekend, Belichick could have his Hall of Fame moment in 2026. The Pro Football Hall of Fame changed its bylaws in 2024 to allow coaches to become eligible for induction after spending one season out of the game, making next year the first year the former Patriots head coach is eligible for induction.
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