He is the greatest coach in the history of the New England Patriots. With eight Super Bowl rings—six as head coach and two as defensive coordinator—Bill Belichick may well be the greatest NFL coach of all time.
Despite his success, he will not be a first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer. It is news that has spread like wildfire across the NFL world. During his first year of eligibility, Bill Belichick fell short of the 40 out of 50 votes needed for induction.
ESPN reported on Jan. 27 that Belichick missed the cut. According to ESPN reporters Don Van Natta and Seth Wickersham, voters held Belichick’s past cheating allegations against him. They wrote: “Multiple sources told ESPN that Spygate and Deflategate, the twin cheating scandals during the Patriots’ championship run, came up in deliberations among voters.”
Sports legends, experts, and fans across the NFL are stunned, and they voiced their frustration on social media.
“Impossible, Egregious, Disrespectful”
GettyTogether, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick have won six Super Bowls.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was among the first to react to the news. “Insane… don’t even understand how this could be possible,” he posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Former Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt echoed those sentiments—and went even further. Watt, now a CBS analyst, posted: “I can’t be reading this right. This has to be some knock-off Hall of Fame or something, it can’t be the actual NFL Hall of Fame. There is not a single world whatsoever in which Bill Belichick should not be a First-Ballot Hall of Famer.”
Tom Brady, the quarterback with whom he won six Super Bowls, reacted with disbelief. “I don’t understand it. If he’s not a first-ballot Hall of Famer then there’s really no coach who should ever be a first-ballot Hall of Famer,” he said.
The news also caused confusion beyond the NFL. Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James expressed his displeasure on X as well. He called the outcome impossible, outrageous, even disrespectful.
Belichick Snub Shocks Media and Fans
But it wasn’t just athletes and experts who reacted to the shocking news. Journalists and fans were equally stunned by the decision.
Alex Barth, a writer about New England sports, posted, “Every few years there’s a vote from the Pro Football Hall of Fame committee where I think ‘wow, this is really the worst one yet, they’ll never f… up worse than this.’ But this… I don’t know how it can be topped. Completely indefensible. Disqualifying not just the process & voters, but the Hall itself.”
Josh Klein, Editor-in-Chief for The Riot Report, takes a different angle but comes to the same conclusion as everyone else. “This is genuinely wild. One bad season/girlfriend at Carolina wipes out one of the best coaching resumes of all time?” he wrote on his account on X.
Another fan wrote, “My first reaction is that this is an embarrassing look for the NFL and the Hall of Fame.
Like what are we doing here. Will be interesting to see if they release the names of voters who didn’t vote for him.”
The 50 members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee come from every NFL city. Online reactions make it clear that everyone is wondering which of them was among the ones who didn’t vote for Bill Belichick. Many quickly rushed to social media after the announcement to distance themselves from potential backlash and clear their names.
Cleveland Browns reporter May Kay Cabot, The Athletic’s Mike Sando and author Gary Myers verified they voted for Belichick. Sando confirmed, “I’m a HOF voter who saw Belichick as slam-dunk.”
The announcement isn’t official yet. The inductees are set to be revealed next week. But one thing is already clear: the entire sports world agrees that Bill Belichick should be a first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer. If not him, then who?
NFL Legends and Experts React to Shocking Football Hall of Fame News