Football Hall of Fame Makes a 'Very Silly' Call

Bill Belichick just got snubbed—and that says more about Pro Football Hall of Fame politics and petty rivalries than about football greatness, according to two opinions. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Jason Gay calls the decision to block the NFL's most decorated coach from first-ballot entry into the Hall of Fame "very silly," and notes that halls of fame have long doubled as fussy gatekeepers, weighed down by grudges and side agendas. Belichick, owner of six Super Bowl titles as Patriots head coach (and two more as a Giants assistant), fell short of the 40 of 50 votes needed, with ESPN reporting that voters revisited the "Spygate" and "Deflategate" cheating scandals during deliberations.

A source told ESPN that former Bills and Colts general manager Bill Polian, a key Belichek rival, encouraged voters to "wait a year" before inducting him, though Polian has denied that. Gay walks through competing theories: some voters wanted to spotlight lesser-known finalists; some may still resent Belichick's terse handling of the media; others dislike a new rule that sped up eligibility for coaches. Gay uses the episode to question what a Hall of Fame is actually for—and why, after decades of debates, the criteria still feel improvised. Because Belichick's eventual induction is guaranteed.

And then, "the voters who kept him out this year will be exposed as a collection of pious, pearl-clutching hypocrites," writes Steve Buckley at the New York Times, accusing them of trying to play God. "This one-year penance business reeks of score-settling, petty grudges and arm-twisting," he writes, suggesting voters sought to punish Belichek, either for "his sullen personality" or for violations for which he's already paid fines. Yes, Belichek will be inducted at some point, but the fact that longtime Patriots owner Robert Kraft, with whom he's long butted heads, might beat him into the Hall of Fame has got to sting for a head coach who's second only to Don Shula in overall victories, Buckley notes. Read his piece here, and Gay's here.