The NFL world was stunned on Tuesday, when an ESPN.com report revealed that in this year’s Pro Football Hall of Fame balloting, the head coach who has won more Super Bowls than any other coach did not qualify on the first ballot in which he was eligible.
Bill Belichick, the legendary former coach of the New England Patriots, failed to become the 30th head coach inducted into the Hall of Fame despite winning more regular-season games than all but two coaches â Don Shula and George Halas â in NFL history when, of the 50 voters responsible for the annual selections, at least 11 chose, for reasons that remain unclear to say the least, not to see the 73-year-old six-time Super Bowl winner as worthy of enshrinement in the Canton, Ohio, Hall, according to the report by Seth Wickersham and Don Van Natta Jr.
The reported Belichick snub brought a strong reaction from a future Hall of Famer and three-time Super Bowl winner as a quarterback, Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs, who called the vote to exclude Belichick âinsane.â
âDonât even understand how this could be possible,â Mahomes wrote on his social media account Tuesday.
Another Future Hall of Famer Incredulous
Mahomes was not the only future NFL Hall of Famer to express stunned disbelief over the Belichick snub by Hall of Fame voters. Retired Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt â a five-time first-team All-Pro who twice led the NFL in sacks â also took to his social media account to register his incredulity.
âI can’t be reading this right,â the 36-year-old Watt wrote. âThis 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.â
Hall of Fame selections are made by a committee that votes in secret, so which members voted against Belichick was not publicly known as of Tuesday. The voters, whose names are posted publicly, are mostly football journalists, but the committee also includes 17 âat-largeâ members.
Those include former coach Tony Dungy, retired wide receiver James Lofton and longtime NFL quarterback Dan Fouts â all of them Hall of Famers themselves.
Belichick’s Qualifications Appear Unimpeachable
In addition to holding the NFL record for Super Bowl wins, as well as appearances with nine, and being one of only three coaches ever to win at least 300 regular-season games, Belichick also holds the NFL record for postseason wins with 31.
Though Belichick’s No. 1 quarterback throughout most of his time in New England, Tom Brady, won seven Super Bowl championships, Belichick also won two as defensive coordinator of the New York Giants. His total of eight is more than any coach or player since the Super Bowl era began in 1966.
One HoF Voter Offers Explanation
One Hall of Fame voter, Mike Sando of The Athletic, wrote on his social media account Tuesday that the Belichick snub, in his view, was not directed against the legendary coach but instead was a repudiation of the Hall of Fame voting rules, particularly a new rule that allows coaches to become eligible for the Hall of Fame ballot one year after retirement, rather than five as is required of players.
âWhatever the case, I would see this as a repudiation of the new voting rules implemented for 2025, not of Belichick or any candidate not making it,â Sando wrote. âThere will be changes to the process, I predict.â
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