‘The Most Egregious Oversight in the History of the Hall of Fame’: NFL Community Erupts Over Bill Belichick’s Hall of Fame Snub
Matt Ludtke/AP
The NFL community was up in arms Tuesday when word got out that legendary coach Bill Belichick did not make the Pro Football Hall of Fame his first year on the ballot.
Belichick, who’s currently the head coach at the University of North Carolina, is most known for ushering in a period of unprecedented dominance for the New England Patriots. Led by Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady, the team won six Super Bowl championships. He also has the most playoff wins of any coach in league history, and is no. 3 on the NFL’s all-time wins leaderboard. It’s a resume unmatched by any coach in history.
Despite this, some on the Pro Football Hall of Fame voting committee felt it was not enough for Belichick to be a first-ballot inductee. The coach needed at least 50 votes to secure a spot in the 2026 class, but only got 40.
The move was almost unanimously viewed as a snub in the sports world. Houston Texas great J.J. Watt said, “There is not a single world whatsoever in which Bill Belichick should not be a First-Ballot Hall of Famer.”
In a video posted online, ESPN analyst and former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark called it “the most egregious oversight in the history of the Hall of Fame.” In another tweet, he declared that no coach should ever be a first-ballot inductee if Belichick couldn’t earn the votes to do it.
Hall of Fame head coach Jimmy Johnson also voiced his support, adding that even he agreed Belichick was the greatest coach of all time.
Countless others agreed.
According to an ESPN report, sources claimed former NFL executive Bill Polian told voters that Belichick should “wait a year” to be inducted into the Hall of Fame as some form of punishment for the cheating scandals that blemished his career. Polian, who also has a vote, later told ESPN that he simply heard other voters floating the idea around. The former Buffalo Bills general manager then claimed he didn’t remember if he voted for Belichick to get in.
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