On Tuesday evening, ESPN reported that Bill Belichick will not be a part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2026, as the six-time Super Bowl winning head coach will not be selected in his first year on the ballot.
Belichick was a part of a specific five-person group of nominees for this year’s PFHOF class that is separate from the modern era candidates. For the second time ever, this five-person group includes one coaching candidate in Belichick, one contributor candidate in Robert Kraft, and three senior player candidates in Ken Anderson, Roger Craig and LC Greenwood. Of those five names, voters must vote for three of the five. If any of those candidates appears on at least 80% of the 50 ballots, they receive entry into football’s most exclusive fraternity.
To both football fans here and New England and around the country, this was stunning news. In addition to his six rings as Patriots head coach from 2001 to 2018, Belichick had previously collected two additional rings as defensive coordinator of the Giants in 1986 and 1990. He’s third all-time in regular season wins (302) behind George Halas (318) and Don Shula (328), and second all-time in combined wins between the regular season and postseason (333) behind Shula (347). He’s a three-time AP Coach of the Year (2003, 2007, 2010), one time Executive of the Year (2021) and is the record holder in each of the following categories:
- Most Super Bowl wins: 8
- Most Super Bowl wins as a head coach: 6
- Most Super Bowl appearances: 12
- Most Super Bowl appearances as a head coach: 9
- Most playoff wins as a head coach: 31
- Most playoff appearances as a head coach: 19 (tied)
- Most divisional championships as a head coach: 17
Add in the fact that he’s a member of the NFL 100th Anniversary Team, 2000s All-Decade Team and 2010s All-Decade Team, along with every iteration of decade/franchise team available from the Patriots, and his resume is unassailable.
So when ESPN’s Adam Schefter joined WEEI Afternoons for his weekly appearance on the show on Wednesday, it was not surprising to hear the longtime insider’s disappointment when asked about Belichick’s snubbing.
What might be surprising, however, is how much of a flame thrower Schefter took to his colleagues in the media who made this decision on behalf of the football world.
Here’s everything Schefter said, in full, on Wednesday afternoon:
Adam Schefter: “It's ridiculous. It's absurd. And the fact that 11-plus voters could keep Bill out of the Pro Football Hall of Fame - make sure that he's not going to be a first time inductee when something like that would mean as much to him as it would to anybody else - is absurd. And to me, these voters benefit sometimes by identifying themselves as voters, and using that to get interviews and access. If you want to enjoy the perks of being a Pro Football Hall of Fame voter, you should be accountable enough to admit that you voted ‘no’ to keep him out.
“I've always felt like the voting procedures were often skewed. They are done in a way that I don't think is really fair and representative, and this reinforces it. It’s a joke that he's not in there. That's a complete embarrassment. It's a blight on the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And not only does it screw him this year, but then it backs up the process by one more year, where you have some older contributors who are more than deserving to get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Now they're going to have to wait another year because of the people that want to punish Bill, because he shouldn't be a first time inductee. Of course he's going to get in - so he'll get in next year, and then the guy that was going to get in next year has to wait another year. Who knows if some of these people are going to be alive in two years? So the whole thing is irritating and bothersome and I don't like it at all.”
Nick “Fitzy” Stevens: “Will the omission of Belichick lead to a change in the recently revamped voting process?”
AS: “Yeah, I don't know how they work it. I would think that when there is an omission as glaring as this, when voters allow it to become personal - because that's what this is, right? Let's be honest. Like, OK - you want to say Bill Belichick was a part of Deflategate and Spygate? You want to say that? Fine, fine, OK. Should he still be granted entry as a first ballot Hall of Famer? 100%. 100 times out of 100. Except in this case.
“So when he doesn't get in, you can't tell me it's all about those scandals. I don't believe that. I believe it's personal. I believe it's that Bill was not always warm and fuzzy with the media. Bill had a certain perception to him, and I think people allowed their personal feelings to enter into the voting process, and somehow make it such that there were 11-plus ‘no’ votes. Like, how could that be? That's absurd, but that's what it is. It became personal, in my mind. In my mind, if the 11 voters wanted to come out and say ‘that's not true,’ they voted against him for other reasons, I'm open to hearing that. But I believe it's personal.”
As of publishing, there’s been no reporting on whether or not Kraft was selected as one of the five from this special sub-group of nominees.
15 modern era players remain as finalists for the Class of 2026. Included in that list is second-ballot nominee Adam Vinatieri, a four-time Super Bowl champion (three with New England) and the game’s all-time leading scorer. Also in that group is Boston College legend and second-ballot nominee Luke Kuechly, who played his entire career with the Panthers (2012-19).
The entire class will be officially announced during the NFL Honors show on February 5 as a part of Super Bowl Week.
You can hear Kevin Harlan and Kurt Warner on the national radio call of Super Bowl LX on Westwood One. We’ll have that broadcast for you right here on 93.7 WEEI-FM in Boston, and across the WEEI Sports Radio Network in New England.
Tune in each and every Monday throughout the football season to Patriots Monday on WEEI. Head coach Mike Vrabel joins The Greg Hill Show at 6:30 a.m. ET, and quarterback Drake Maye joins WEEI Afternoons.