What a shame! I’m still trying to understand how Bill Belichick was not an automatic first round selection to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The news was leaked ahead of the official class announcement. Outrage spread across the wide world of sports as the NFL’s all-time leader in Super Bowl rings and playoff wins among head coaches isn’t first round worthy. Sadly, the Pro Football Hall of Fame is now tarnished forever.
Voting
There are 50 voters on the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee. The voters include veteran media representatives who cover the NFL with one representative from each of the 32 NFL cities (with two for New York and Los Angeles). Voting also includes a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA) and the other 17 at-large voters are listed as knowledgeable media or football experts.
For enshrinement, candidates need at least 80% approval or 40 out of the 50 votes. This would mean that at least 11 voters did not vote for Bill Belichick. In what world is that even possible?
Bill Belichick
Bill Belichick has 12 Super Bowl appearances and won eight, EIGHT, Super Bowl rings. Belichick won six Super Bowl championships as the head coach of the New England Patriots (2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016, 2018) and two as the defensive coordinator with the New York Giants (1986, 1990).
For context, here’s the next list of players and coaches with the most Super Bowl rings, after Bill Belichick. Tom Brady has seven- six with Belichick in New England and one with Tampa Bay (2021). After Tom is Charles Haley with five rings. Haley has two with the San Francisco 49ers and three with the Dallas Cowboys. The next coach with the most bling is Chuck Knoll with four rings for the Steelers. Belichick has double the amount of Super Bowl rings as the next coach on the all-time list and he was still a first round Hall of Fame snub. Talk about Hall of Shame!
There are 12 NFL teams that have never won a Super Bowl and four teams have never had a Super Bowl appearance. However, Belichick has been there 12 times and won eight and somehow that’s not first ballot worthy? Bleeping shameful. Basically, by snubbing Belichick, the Hall of Fame just said that no coach will never be a first-round selection again. (Five coaches were previously first-round selections.)
Cheating-gates
For those who are saying Belichick was only good because of Tom Brady and cheating, you’re probably a Jets fan. Multiple investigations couldn’t prove Brady intentionally cheated. Did you watch the Sports Science episode that proved the science behind deflated footballs was shaky at best? And then he came back from a four-game suspension and won another Super Bowl just to be dramatic. Here’s my 2015 Deflategate blog https://alisonstclair.com/deflategate/
Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, Warren Moon, Sonny Jurgenson, and Cam Newton are all elite quarterbacks who never won a Super Bowl. You can be one of the greatest QBs to play the game and still not win a Super Bowl. They say defense wins championships and Bill Belichick is considered one of the best defensive minds in history, obsessed with his meticulous game planning, attention to detail, and fundamental coaching. Brady and Belichick together made each other great and that greatness created a dynasty.
There is no question that Belichick and Brady built the most sustained run of excellence professional football has ever seen. If the Hall of Fame ‘punishes’ Belichick by not being a first-ballot selection because of his ‘cheating-gates’ then is the Hall of Fame not going to vote Tom Brady in as a first ballot Hall of Famer because he was a part of those ‘cheating-gates’ too?
Hall of Fame
At the end of the day, the Hall of Fame exists to preserve football history — not rewrite it. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady defined an era, changed how the game is coached and played, and built a dynasty that may never be replicated. First ballot shouldn’t be controversial when greatness is this obvious. If the Hall of Fame starts letting grudges and scandals outweigh accomplishments, then it stops being a Hall of Fame and starts becoming a Hall of Shame.
The 2026 Hall of Fame class will be announced February 5th during the NFL Honors ceremony.
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