Former Patriots Rival Denies Role In Bill Belichick’s Hall Of Fame Snub

A former NFL executive and longtime rival of Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots disputed his reported involvement in the head coach’s Hall of Fame omission.

ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham revealed Tuesday that Belichick shockingly did not receive the 40 of 50 votes necessary to make the Hall of Fame’s 2026 class. Their report claimed that former Indianapolis Colts general manager and team president Bill Polian told other voters Belichick should “wait a year” before his induction as punishment for the Spygate scandal.

Van Natta interviewed Polian after initially publishing the story on Tuesday night. He denied campaigning against Belichick but heard others “float that idea” of keeping him out of the Hall of Fame this year, which Polian didn’t support.

Polian said he voted for Patriots owner Robert Kraft, but he wasn’t entirely sure if he also voted for Belichick.

“I was shocked to learn Bill didn’t get in,” Polian said. “He deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.”

Polian’s foggy memory on whether he voted for Belichick is curious, as he delivered a different account to Sports Illustrated’s Matt Verderame earlier that evening.

“That’s totally and categorically untrue,” Polian declared of any involvement in blocking Belichick from the Hall of Fame. “I voted for him.”

Polian served as Indianapolis’ general manager from 1998 to 2009 as Peyton Manning’s Colts battled Tom Brady’s Patriots for AFC supremacy. The Patriots eliminated the Colts from the playoffs twice during that tenure and two more times after he retired as team president in 2011.

ESPN reported that Belichick was “puzzled” and “disappointed” by not receiving enough votes to make the 2026 Hall of Fame class. It remains uncertain whether Kraft will be inducted.