Bill Belichick Hall Of Fame Snub Divides Selectors Amid A Call For Dissenters To ID Themselves

My phone rang on Tuesday around mid-afternoon, and it was the familiar voice of an NFL source who started the conversation by bluntly asking, "What happened with Belichick?"

I did not know what the heck he was talking about and told him as much, and that's when he informed me he'd just heard that former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who won six Super Bowl championships as a head coach and guided this century's most dominant NFL dynasty, was not voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

I didn't know. And I didn't immediately believe it. 

Except it is true. Belichick indeed will not be a first-ballot Hall of Famer and a member of the Hall of Fame Class of 2026.

Former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick waves his hat to fans during the Patriots Super Bowl LIII victory parade. (Photo by David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Bill Belichick Not First Ballot HOFer

And this one hits home because I presented Belichick in the Hall's sub-committee meeting that selected him to advance to the full 50-member selection body. And I also presented Belichick to the full selector's committee in the meeting on Jan. 13.

And throughout the process, I thought it impossible that the coach who won six Lombardi Trophies, more than any other head coach including the man the trophy is named after, would be snubbed as a first-ballot inductee.

But here we are. At least 11 selectors voted against Belichick. 

I know the names of some of those because they made their positions clear in the meeting that they outright didn't intend to vote for Belichick or spoke up in the debate, making it obvious they felt uncomfortable doing so.

It's not my place to name the dissenters. But they definitely should speak up.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton. (Via Getty Images)

HOF Voters Should ID Themselves

They should identify themselves as the people who kept Belichick out of the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year.

I am saying that here, and would say as much to their face. Their votes sunk Belichick's chances and embarrassed the Hall of Fame in the process.

They make all selectors look bad, and they shouldn't hide behind their minority vote to protect themselves at the expense of the wider group. I know it's a wider group because I've spoken with a lot of selectors since our meeting, and they agreed with my vote for Belichick. 

And, now, I assume many agree this snub is an embarrassment.

"I'm just disappointed for our committee because we put such hard work into this," said longtime selector Gary Myers, who for decades covered both the New York Jets and Giants for the New York Daily News. "I feel we lose credibility as a committee when something like this happens."

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell (R) congratulates Super Bowl LIII champion Head Coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)

Spygate Kept Belichick Out Of HOF

So, let me tell you why it happened:

It wasn't Belichick's lack of achievements. He has practically all of those — most Super Bowls, most conference titles, most divisional championships — in unmatched quantity.

It was Spygate.

Spygate was the reason several selectors could not bring themselves to vote for Belichick, because they felt it sullied his records.

And I addressed that issue in my presentation.

Former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick looks on from the sideline. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Post Spygate Belichick Still A HOFer

I told them that even if you believe every victory Belichick’s teams authored up to Sept. 9, 2007 when Spygate was uncovered should be expunged from the coach’s record, he still…

Won 3 Super Bowl championships.

He won 6 conference titles.

He had 14 double-digit-win seasons, including 13 in a row.

Belichick has a 112-81 record for a .580 winning percentage through that first game of 2007. And he has a 190-84 record for a .693 winning percentage afterward.

After Spygate, Belichick won more regular-season games than 22 of the 28 coaches in the Hall of Fame including:

John Madden.

Joe Gibbs.

Hank Stram.

JJ Also Wants Voters Unmasked

Jimmy Johnson.

Bill Cowher.

Don Coryell.

Bill Parcells.

Paul Brown.

And Lombardi.

Those facts may have changed some minds on Belichick. But it didn't change enough of them.

So now the selection committee is taking blows on social media and will on television as well. That's not fair because only a minority of selectors authored this mistake.

And they should identify themselves and tell everyone why.