In a shocking turn of events, former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick will not be going into the Pro Football Hall of Fame later this year.
The six-time Super Bowl champion (well, eight once
you include his days as Bill Parcells’ defensive coordinator for the New York Giants) reportedly failed to receive the minimum 40 votes out of 50 needed to get that gold jacket and enshrinement in Canton. It seems as if New England’s scandals during their Super Bowl days are a factor as far as why Belichick got the snub.
Multiple sources told ESPN that Spygate and Deflategate, the twin cheating scandals during the Patriots’ championship run, came up in deliberations among voters. A voter who spoke on condition of anonymity said that Polian, an ardent Kraft supporter and former general manager of the Buffalo Bills and Indianapolis Colts — a chief Patriots rival during their dynasty — told some voters he believed Belichick should “wait a year” before induction as penance for Spygate, the 2007 cheating scandal that cost the team a first-round draft pick. Commissioner Roger Goodell also fined the Patriots $500,000 and fined Belichick $250,000.
Polian did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the interest of consistency, surely there’s no way Tom Brady should be first-ballot given he was actually suspended for Deflategate a few years later.
Belichick was the lone finalist in the Coaches wing of the Hall of Fame, which is a problem for any coach waiting in line for their turn to be inducted. Former Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers head coach Mike Holmgren, who was denied a Hall of Fame entry last year despite making it as a finalist, probably should not anticipate being a finalist in 2027.
Amusingly, Patriots owner Robert Kraft is a first-time finalist in the Contributors wing. It’ll be interesting to see if he gets in before Belichick.
