Opinion: Not giving Bill Belichick first ballot Hall of Fame status has merit

In an interesting decision by those who have voting status for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick of Nashville, Tennessee was not inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility according to Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham of ESPN on Tuesday. In order to be selected, Belichick needed 40 0f 50 votes, and he was not able to get enough support.

The initial reaction to Belichick’s snub is rather interesting. According to two associates in the ESPN report, Belichick stated, “Six Super Bowls isn’t enough,” and “What does a guy have to do?”

On paper, there is no doubt that Belichick deserved Hall of Fame status. He won six Super Bowls as a coach with the Patriots, with the last one coming in 2019. That is twice more Super Bowls than the next coach on the list, Andy Reid, who has won three times.

Belichick’s 302 wins as a head coach with the Patriots and Cleveland Browns are the third most in National Football League history. The only two coaches with more wins are Don Shula (328) and George Halas (318). Both Shula, who coached the Baltimore Colts and Miami Dolphins, and Halas, who coached the Chicago Bears, are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

So why was Belichick not considered? The answer is rather interesting. It is related to his alleged role in Spygate and the fact that Deflategate took place according to Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network in a report by Rogers Sportsnet. In Spygate, Belichick was fined half a million dollars in 2007 because a Patriots video assistant was caught recording the New York Jets’s defensive signals on the sidelines. In Deflategate, it was determined that Belichick was not aware that footballs were deflated. However, it was orchestrated by the organization Belichick was coaching. As a result, Belichick is understandably paying the price for one year by football’s selection committee.