Bill Belichick won six Lombardi Trophies as a head coach with the Patriots, two as an assistant with the Giants and has more Super Bowl rings than anyone in NFL history.
Yet somehow he’s not a first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer.
Belichick didn’t get the required votes in his first year of eligibility, according to a report from ESPN on Tuesday that cited four unidentified sources.
Belichick needed 40 votes from the 50-person panel of media members and other Hall of Famers.
News of the snub stunned players, coaches, fans and anyone who has watched football.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes called it “insane.”
NBA superstar LeBron James said it’s “impossible, egregious, and quite frankly disrespectful.”
If Belichick’s resume isn’t worthy of a gold jacket and bronze statue, what constitutes a Hall of Fame career?
“Whatever perceptions may exist about any personal differences between Bill and me, I strongly believe Bill Belichick’s record and body of work speak for themselves,” Patriots owner Robert Kraft said in a statement to The Associated Press on Wednesday.
“As head coach of the New England Patriots for more than two decades, he set the standard for on-field excellence, preparation, and sustained success in the free agency and salary cap era of the National Football League. He is the greatest coach of all time and he unequivocally deserves to be a unanimous first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer.”
The controversy even reached 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. President Trump fumed over the report.
“It is the same mindset that gave pro football the new and unwatchable ‘Sissy’ kickoff Rule … ridiculous and should be overturned,” the president posted on Truth Social.
Kraft and Belichick are two of five finalists among coaches, contributors and senior players who last appeared in a game in 2000 or earlier. Roger Craig, Ken Anderson and L.C. Greenwood are the players.
Between one and three of those finalists will be inducted into the Hall along with between three and five modern era players from a group of 15 finalists.
The Hall of Fame declined to comment before its class of 2026 is announced at NFL Honors in San Francisco on Feb. 5. Several voters immediately revealed they voted for Belichick and some called for those who didn’t to publicly say it.
Armando Salguero, OutKick’s Senior NFL Writer and Hall of Fame voter, was the one who presented Belichick in the Hall’s subcommittee meeting that selected him to advance to the full 50-member selection body. Salguero then presented Belichick to the full selector’s committee in a meeting on Jan. 13.
He is among the voters who selected Belichick and are urging the others to reveal themselves.
“They should identify themselves as the people who kept Belichick out of the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year,” Salguero wrote in his column. “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.”
Salguero, who is a longtime voter for the AP All-Pro team and the AP NFL awards, said the “Spygate” scandal kept Belichick out of the Hall. There is no morality or character criteria for voters to consider.
Belichick was implicated in a sign-stealing scheme during the 2007 season and was fined $500,000 after New England was caught filming defensive signals from the New York Jets during a game.
“Spygate was the reason several selectors could not bring themselves to vote for Belichick, because they felt it sullied his records,” Salguero wrote.
The 73-year-old Belichick was a top defensive assistant coach with the Giants under Bill Parcells. He left New York to coach Cleveland from 1991-95, joined the Patriots as an assistant in 1996, spent three seasons with the Jets and was hired by New England in 2000.
He led the Patriots with Tom Brady to six Super Bowl wins in nine appearances and had one 16-0 regular season. Belichick’s 333 wins in the regular season and playoffs with New England and Cleveland are the second most to Don Shula’s 347. He won AP NFL Coach of the Year three times.
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