Bill Belichick won’t have “first ballot Hall of Famer” on his resume.
If you’re shocked by this fact, you’re not alone.
The NFL world was baffled by the news reported by ESPN on Tuesday evening that Belichick, the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach, was not elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, on his first appearance on the ballot.
Belichick fell short of the requisite 40 votes of 50 votes from the voting committee — made up of at least one media representative from each football city and other at-large members — needed to gain entry.
ESPN reported that the two major scandals Belichick was beleaguered by in New England — Spygate in 2007 and Deflategate in 2015 — were part of the discussions. Ex-Colts general manager Bill Polian, an at-large member of the voting committee, reportedly told some voters that Belichick should “wait a year” before getting inducted. Polian denied he voted against Belichick to Sports Illustrated.
Whatever the reason, Belichick — who also won two Super Bowls as a defensive coordinator with the Giants — will not be enshrined in 2026, and the football world was largely stunned.
Jimmy Johnson, who is in the Pro Football and College Hall of Fames as a coach, was floored by the vote.
“I would like to know the names of the a–holes who did not vote for him,” he wrote on X, “they are too cowardly to identify themselves…”
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was among the contingent of players in disbelief.
“Insane… don’t even understand how this could be possible,” Mahomes wrote on X.
Future Hall of Fame defensive end JJ Watt also expressed his dismay.
“I can’t be reading this right,” he posted. “This 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.”
Eight-time Pro Bowl defensive end Cam Jordan expressed similar sentiments in a post on the social media platform.
“Sometimes I scratch my head when a candidate gets in the HOF, this time I’m scratching my head on how an HOF candidate didn get in…” Jordan wrote.
One NFL executive sent a message to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, expressing that the people who didn’t vote for Belichick should be “exposed.”
“The 10+ people that didn’t vote for BB should be exposed,” they wrote to the NFL insider. “WTF. This is crazy.”
Ryan Clark, ESPN analyst and Super Bowl champ with the Steelers, called the decision “egregious.”
“Bill Belichick not being a first ballot Hall of Famer means that no coach should ever be,” he wrote. “It means that the voters have decided there isn’t a coaching resume that warrants First Ballot consideration! He is the GREATEST, most ACCOMPLISHED coach of all time! This is egregious!”
Belichick, a three-time Coach of the Year, finished his career with a 302-165 regular season record with 31 more wins in the playoffs.
