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Dan Wetzel
multiple authors
If Bill Belichick is not a Hall of Fame coach, as the committee that determines such things believes, then you can’t even have a Pro Football Hall of Fame.
ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham reported Tuesday that the veteran Belichick failed to earn the necessary support for enshrinement during the Jan. 13 voting session.
This was Belichick’s first appearance on the ballot, and although he would get additional chances in future years, it is frankly absurd that he did not receive at least 80% support from the 50-person selection committee. In other words, at least 11 voters somehow did not include it on their ballot.
Be it the people voting, the voting process or the ego of the voters, it doesn’t change the absurdity here. If the intention was to vilify Belichick because of Spygate, or his harsh behavior, or his tabloid personal life, or his 4-8 season at the University of North Carolina, it didn’t work.
The onus is squarely on the committee and, in turn, on the Hall of Fame.
Most voters are veterans of the game or current and retired NFL media, this year’s list also includes the former indianapolis colts Coach Tony Dungy and general manager Bill Polian, both Hall of Famers.
Van Natta and Wickersham reported that Polian told other voters that he believed Belichick should “wait a year” due to the 2007 Spygate scandal, when new England Patriots were determined to film New York Jets‘Coaching signal from unauthorized location.
When did retrospective ethics become part of this process?
The final result has stunned even committee members, who cast their votes anonymously and do not know the outcome. One told ESPN that when the scandals were brought up during a Zoom meeting, the discussion was so subdued that voters expected Belichick to join in. The voter remembers that someone actually mentioned it would be “embarrassing” to the committee if he did not do so.
It definitely is.
Belichick won 301 regular season games as a head coach cleveland And, especially, New England. He trails only Don Shula and George Halas. They won 31 additional games in the postseason, more than anyone else. He captured 17 division titles, nine AFC championships and six Super Bowls with the Patriots, each of which is the most ever.
He created innovative offenses, revolutionary game strategies and a disciplined pursuit of perfection. At one point, New England went up 18-0 and almost took it.
As a defensive coordinator with New York GiantsThey won two more Super Bowls, including a 1986 team that allowed only 23 points in three playoff games.
Here’s how his candidacy should have been discussed.
“Next up, Bill Belichick.”
“In.”
Seriously, what are we doing here? The Hall of Fame is a museum, a fun place to take your kids, be reminded of past glories, and buy a T-shirt. Belichick’s teams and players are already in the Hall. You can’t write the history of football without him. They’ve inspired everything from torn hoodies to motivational quotes.
The debate isn’t whether he’s a Hall of Famer, the debate is whether he’s the greatest coach of all time. The worst thing you can say about him is that he never won a big game without Tom Brady. Well, let’s leave the argument aside, but that’s not the hurdle he needed to clear.
Apologies to all the less accomplished Hall of Fame coaches who don’t deserve to be dragged into this, but…
Don Coryell went just 111-83-1, won only three playoff games and never even reached the Super Bowl. Tom Flores captured two Super Bowls but only recorded six winning seasons throughout his career. Marv Levy never won a Lombardi.
We can move forward.
If they’re all qualified, and no one is arguing they’re not, how come Belichick isn’t? If one’s resume is not the determining factor, then what should be?
Did Belichick need to be more polite in news conferences? Did he have to treat his teammates well?
As for Belichick’s run-ins with the rule book, he’s no angel but that was never mentioned in Deflategate. That was all put on Brady. The NFL found him responsible for Spygate, but he and the franchise paid the punishment – a $500,000 fine and a $250,000 fine for BB as well as the loss of a first-round pick for the Pats.
If anything, continued success despite lost draft capital should count in his favor.
There was no note anywhere in the Spygate penalty for Hall voters to address it again later. If the NFL wants to prevent him from being enshrined, as MLB has done with Pete Rose, that’s on him. It’s not the Hall voters’ job to do the dirty work for the leagues.
But we are here.
Bill Belichick, perhaps the most obvious first-ballot Hall of Famer ever, is not a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
This is the committee that should be voted out.
