By all reasonable accounts, Bill Belichick should have been a first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer. He’s won an unprecedented six Super Bowls and is second all-time in victories as an NFL head coach, although he had one season over .500 in the four years without Tom Brady.
Of course, his career can’t be discussed without Spygate and Deflategate. That might have been part of the reason he’ll have to wait another year to be enshrined in Canton. According to ESPN, former NFL GM Bill Polian, whose Indianapolis Colts were heated rivals with the Patriots, reportedly told voters to “‘wait a year’ before induction as penance for Spygate.”
There’s also Belichick’s disastrous first season as head coach at North Carolina and, of course, his newsworthy (to put it lightly) relationship with Jordon Hudson. But those factors shouldn’t blemish his Patriots resume.
Belichick’s surprising snub was naturally a major talking point on social media on Tuesday evening. As you can see below, both fans and national media — and even Patrick Mahomes — ripped the Hall of Fame’s voters after the news from ESPN came out:
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
