Steelers Super Bowl Champion Blasts Hall of Fame For Bill Belichick Decision
Belichick has won eight Super Bowls
The New England Patriots are gearing up for the Super Bowl, but news of their former coach, Bill Belichick, not making the Hall of Fame has shook the NFL world.
According to ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham, Bill Belichick did not receive the necessary votes to get into the Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot.
Longtime NFL defensive back and current media personality, Ryan Clark, commented on the decision on X. Clark won a Super Bowl in 2008 with the Pittsburgh Steelers and played 13 seasons in the NFL. Eight of those seasons came in the AFC during Belichick’s time coaching the Patriots.
“Bill Belichick not being a first ballot Hall of Famer means that no coach should ever be,” Clark wrote on X. “It means that the voters have decided there isn’t a coaching resume that warrants First Ballot consideration! He is the GREATEST, most ACCOMPLISHED coach of all time! This is egregious!”
Belichick was the Patriots’ head coach for 24 seasons, leading them to nine Super Bowls and winning six. He ranks first in NFL history among head coaches in Super Bowls, playoff wins and conference championships. He is a three-time Coach of the Year as well.
He ranks second to Don Shula in total wins and third all-time in regular-season wins. Not only is Belichick deserving of being a first-ballot Hall of Famer, but he is also arguably the greatest coach of all time. He has also won two Super Bowls as an assistant.
“Multiple sources told ESPN that Spygate and Deflategate, the twin cheating scandals during the Patriots’ championship run, came up in deliberations among voters,” ESPN wrote on Tuesday. “A voter who spoke on condition of anonymity said that Polian, an ardent Kraft supporter and former general manager of the Buffalo Bills and Indianapolis Colts — a chief Patriots rival during their dynasty — told some voters he believed Belichick should ‘wait a year’ before induction as penance for Spygate, the 2007 cheating scandal that cost the team a first-round draft pick. Commissioner Roger Goodell also fined the Patriots $500,000 and fined Belichick $250,000.”
Belichick is seemingly being punished for Spygate and Deflategate. However, this raises the question as to whether the Hall of Fame will make Tom Brady wait a year. The answer is clearly no, so why does Belichick have to wait.
