Analysis: How Pro Football Hall of Fame’s voting process may have led to Bill Belichick controversy

ESPN.com says Bill Belichick has not made the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.

I can neither confirm nor deny the report. And I was there. I was in the Jan. 13 virtual selection meeting that took 8 hours, 15 minutes.

We 50 selectors weren’t given the results of our final votes, but it’s clear the anonymously sourced information came from Belichick after the Hall called to reject him rather than knock on his door to film his acceptance.

So we can assume ESPN got it right a week before the Class of 2026 is announced Feb. 5.

I voted for Belichick. I spoke up on his behalf.

Why?

First and last of all, he’s Bill Belichick. He won a record six Super Bowl rings as the New England Patriots head coach and another two as a New York Giants assistant.

What ESPN did not do in its report was add important context by describing an evolving voting system with flaws that selectors have been warning the Hall about since it went into place in 2024. The system could have been a factor in fewer than 40 selectors clicking on Belichick’s name when it came time to vote.

Selectors are not allowed to give details on what was said in the meeting. I can say that of the 20 people presented, the longest discussion — 45 minutes, 52 seconds — was on Belichick. Eli Manning was second (35:57).

Obviously, the “Spygate” and “Deflategate” cheating scandals that Belichick and the Patriots were found guilty of were discussed. No state secrets revealed there.

Also discussed and tabled for a later date with Hall officials was the current voting procedure that requires selectors to use three votes on a group of five people from three categories: one coach, in this case Belichick; one contributor, Patriots owner Robert Kraft; and three senior players, Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end L.C. Greenwood, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson and San Francisco 49ers running back Roger Craig.

Last year, only one person from the seniors/coach/contributor group of five — senior player Sterling Sharpe — received 80% of the votes. Voters spread their collective 150 votes in many directions, causing four finalists to fall short of 40.

In the old format, Belichick would have been a simple yes or no vote on 50 ballots. In the new format, he was pitted against four other finalists in two distinctly different categories.

So many dynamics could have come into play under the new format. Dynamics that don’t include making him wait because of cheating scandals, which some might have decided to do, or because he was a grump to the media, which I believe no one on this committee would ever do. Possibilities include:

I was on the coaches subcommittee this year. We did our due diligence on all nine semifinalists. Belichick still was the slam-dunk choice to present to the full committee.

It’s unfathomable that he won’t be that subcommittee’s no-brainer choice again in 2027.

You can argue that none of this matters. That under any format, Belichick is a first-ballot Hall of Famer.