NFL Legend ‘Livid’ Over Bill Belichick’s Hall Of Fame Snub

Another Pro Football Hall of Famer expressed outrage over Bill Belichick not joining him in Canton.

The NFL officially revealed the 2026 Hall of Fame class on Thursday. As previously reported, Belichick and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft were not inducted.

Emmitt Smith chastized voters who left Belichick off their ballots during an ESPN appearance on “First Take.”

“I am livid,” Smith said on Friday. “I am absolutely livid because what you’re seeing is the hypocrisy that’s going on with some of these writers and so forth. People are mad at certain things, whether he wanted to talk to you.”

ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham reported that former Indianapolis Colts general manager Bill Polian told fellow Hall of Fame voters that Belichick should “wait a year” for induction as punishment for New England’s Spygate scandal. Polian denied that claim but wavered on whether he voted for Belichick.

The NFL’s all-time rushing leader seemed to reference those rumors when demanding more accountability from voters, who aren’t required to release their ballots publicly.

“I dislike the fact that people vote, and their votes are not revealed who did what and why,” Smith continued. “Cause I think you guys, the press, has the right to ask the question, why did you vote such a way? And what was your reasoning?

“I don’t care if you’re from Indianapolis. I don’t care where you may be from. The bottom line is, you’re mad for a reason. And whatever the reason is, you’re acting like your (expletive) don’t stink.”

Adam Vinatieri made the 2026 Hall of Fame, and Belichick, Kraft, and Rob Gronkowski could join him next year. Yet Smith looked ahead another year to when Tom Brady first becomes eligible.

Smith doesn’t see the point of the Hall of Fame if Brady suffers the same fate as Belichick and isn’t a first-ballot choice.

“If he’s not a first-round ballot, I don’t even know why I’m in it,” Smith said. “Cause at the end of the day, you’re talking about people that have done things the game has never seen before. No one on the planet has more rings than Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.”