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Who didn't vote for Bill Belichick? What we know about snub from first ballot Hall of Fame list originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Bill Belichick will assuredly be honored with a bust in Canton. He'll have to wait another year for the statue to come to fruition, though.
The Patriots icon was reportedly denied entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on his first time of asking, according to ESPN's Don Van Natta and Seth Wickersham, a shock move that sent masses of NFL fans, pundits and players alike into a frenzy.
Belichick is, by most metrics, the greatest coach in league history. He has more Super Bowl wins than any other tactician and ushered in more than two decades of success in New England, turning a franchise once considered to be lovable losers into everyone's favorite adversary.
That wasn't enough to earn first-ballot status for the 73-year-old, though. Van Natta and Wickersham reported that the more unsavory parts -- of Belichick's reign -- specifically Spygate and Deflategate -- could explain his absence on voter's tickets. It's unclear if those factors will also impact New England owner Robert Kraft's candidacy.
Nevertheless, here's what we do know about Belichick's shock omission from this year's Hall of Fame class.
MORE: Why Bill Belichick isn't a first-ballot Hall of Famer after controversial vote
Who didn't vote for Bill Belichick?
Pro Football Hall of Fame voting is cloaked by a sheet of anonymity. While the names of the 50 voters who make up the selection committee -- a mix of mostly veteran NFL reporters, as well as a handful of notable football figures -- are public knowledge, voters aren't required to release their annual voting ballot. Hence, we can't know for sure which voters opted against leaving Belichick off of their ticket entirely.
What we do know, though, is that at least 10 voters deemed Belichick unworthy of first-ballot status. He faced stiff competition from a star-studded list of finalists, including Patriots owner Robert Kraft, the man who oversaw New England's ascent alongside Belichick.
Van Natta and Wickersham cited intel from an anonymous voter claiming that Belichick's role in Deflategate and Spygate was seen as reason enough to leave him out of Canton for a year. Bill Polian, a former Colts executive during Belichick's prime who was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a contributor in 2015, is believed to have been one of Belichick's loudest detractors in deliberations over candidate's Hall of Fame worthiness. Van Natta and Wickersham reported that Polian told voters Belichick should "wait a year" before being inducted as atonement for the Spygate plot in 2007.
Belichick was fined $250,000 for his role in the cheating scandal, while the Patriots were docked $500,000 and a first-round pick as a response to their actions.
MORE: The NFL world reacts to Bill Belichick missing out on Hall of Fame
"Politics kept him out," one source familiar with Belichick's thoughts told ESPN. "He doesn't believe this is a reflection on his accomplishments."
Polian didn't immediately respond to ESPN's request for comment.
How many Pro Football Hall of Famer coaches were first-ballot?
To date, there are just five coaches who were elected to the Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. They are as follows: George Halas, Vince Lombardi, Tom Landry, Don Shula and Chuck Noll.
All five are considered titans in coaching history, boasting cabinets filled with gold and silver. And yet, Belichick claimed more titles as a coach than all of them (two as a defensive coordinator with the Giants, six as Patriots head coach). He trails only Shula and Halas on the all-time wins list while placing second (behind Shula) in AP Coach of the Year wins (three).
All of that is to say, Belichick's resume is eerily similar, if not outright better, to the coach's deemed great enough to strut into the Pro Football of Fame on their first ballot.
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