Six Super Bowl Championships and 2 more as an Assistant Coach with the Giants, and Bill Belichick is not selected on the first ballot.
What more could he do? This is an absolute travesty that at least 11 of the 50 Hall of Fame voters chose not to vote for Bill Belichick in his 1st year of eligibility. The cry from all over the NFL is outrage. Legendary Hall of Fame coach Jimmy Johnson, NFL Superstar and present Head Coach of Colorado Deion Sanders, and former NFL player and now TV Analyst JJ Watt are some of the more vocal. Watt said, “This has to be some knock-off Hall of Fame or something, it can’t be the actual NFL Hall of Fame. There is not a single world whatsoever in which Bill Belichick should not be a First-Ballot Hall of Famer.” Johnson said on X “I would like to know the names of the a**holes who did not vote for him..they are too cowardly to identify themselves.”
An unsubstantiated report stated that former Colts GM Bill Polian lobbied against Belichick in the meetings of the voting members. The report was that Polian and others felt that Belichick needed to be punished for his indiscretions of Spygate and Deflategate. The greatest coach of all time will not get the honor of being a First Ballot Hall of Famer. Ironically, Bill Polian is a 1st Ballott Hall of Famer.
I was afraid this was going to happen. Belichick’s surly attitude and disdain for the media turned some voters against him. This is their way of getting their petty revenge against him.
We do not know if Robert Kraft has been selected and won’t know until next week. Perhaps voters didn’t want both Owner and Coach entering the Hall in the same year. My fear with Kraft is that the voters will continue to punish him by not electing him while he is still alive.
Another curious thing is that the Patriots dominated the league for 20 years and only have three players from those teams in the Hall of Fame, yet the Colts, who only won one Super Bowl has 4 players in the Hall. How is Rodney Harrison not in the Hall? Tom Brady should be a 1st ballot Hall of Famer, but perhaps he, too, will be denied entry on the 1st ballot because of Deflategate.
70s Steelers – 12 HOF, including coach and owner
80s 49ers – 8 HOF, including coach and owner
90s Cowboys – 8 HOF, including coach and owner
2000 Patriots 20-year dynasty? 3 primary player HOF.
The secret ballots of the Hall voters cheapen the nomination process, and those voters who take their selection process seriously. Every voter is now suspect because of this denial. This is not a popularity contest or something that should be influenced by the powerful. This lack of selection cheapens every member that has been selected. This is a huge black mark on the NFL.
In a very good article from Pro Football Sports Network, Calls Mount for Pro Football Hall of Fame To Make 1 Major Change After Bill Belichick’s Stunning Snub, Talib Haider wrote, “Almost instantly, the conversation shifted away from Belichick’s credentials and toward the voting process itself. The loudest reaction across media, players, and even Hall of Fame voters was a renewed demand for transparency.”
Many argued that anonymity has protected questionable decisions for too long and that this vote crossed a line.
Former NFL defensive tackle Gerald McCoy took it a step further, speaking from a player’s perspective: “The voters have to not remain anonymous anymore. We need an explanation for why Bill Belichick, one of the greatest coaches ever at any level of any sport with 8 SBs, is not a first ballot HOF’er… No explanation will be valid, but I need to know. I’m sorry, man!! This is insane!”
Veteran and highly respected reporter John McClain added important context from inside the room, writing: “I think under these circumstances, if the Hall of Fame were to decide to disclose who voted for whom, it would be welcomed by most on our committee. Those who voted for Belichick — as many as 39 — are being tarnished by those who didn’t.”
That line made clear the fallout is internal as well.
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Merrimack Valley native and lifelong fan of the New England Patriots. My earliest memories of the Patriots were attending as a child with my dad, the off-season practice at Phillips Academy. I was at the Patriots game at Harvard Stadium in 1970 where Bob “Harpo” Gladieux was called out of the stands by the stadium announcer over the PA to play in the game. Analyzing the draft since ESPN first started to televise it in 1980 and former writer for the Lowell Sun Newspaper.
