Bill Belichick Hall of Fame snub: Who voted for him? Who voted against him? Full list

The selection process for the Pro Football Hall of Fame is under the microscope this week after Bill Belichick was scandalously snubbed during its first year of participation.

The former Patriots coach, who won six Super Bowls in New England, was widely expected to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, but that won’t happen this year. So how did the greatest coach in NFL history get left behind?

To understand this, we need to break down the voting process, which is a bit complicated, so let’s walk through it.

• The Hall of Fame selection committee has 50 members. The committee is comprised primarily of members of the media, as well as several coaches, front office members and Hall of Fame players.
• To be enshrined this year, Belichick needed at least 40 votes.
• Belichick was competing with four other finalists for a spot in Canton. He faced all three senior finalists (Ken Anderson, Roger Craig and LC Greenwood), as well as one contributing finalist (Patriots owner Robert Kraft).
• Each member of the selection committee is allowed to vote for a maximum of three candidates. Members are not asked to rank them. If a candidate’s name appears on a ballot, it counts as a vote.
• Since Belichick was unsuccessful, that means he was excluded from at least 11 rounds of voting.
• Voting is done in secret and the Hall of Fame does not reveal how people voted.

Basically, there is no accountability or transparency in the process. CBS Sports NFL Insider Jonathan Jones called for the whole system will explode.

The Hall of Fame has a full list of all 50 selection committee members on its website, and although votes are supposed to remain secret, several committee members have come out and revealed whether they voted for Belichick.

The committee includes a media member from each city that has an NFL team (32 total). There is also a member representing the PFWA, as well as 17 electors.

Let’s take a look at the full list, including members who publicly said they voted for Belichick and those who didn’t reveal their ballots.

Committee members who have publicly stated they voted for Belichick:

1. Arizona: Kent Somersretired from the Arizona Republic
2. Buffalo: Vic CarucciWGRZ-TV
3. Chicago: Dan PompeiiAthletics
4. Cleveland: Tony GrossiESPNCleveland.com/WKNR Radio
5. Detroit: Dave BirkettDetroit Free Press
6. Green Bay: Pete DoughertyGreen Bay Press Gazette
7. Houston: John McClainSportsRadio610
8. Los Angeles (Chargers): Eric WilliamsSports Illustrated
9. Miami: Armando SalgueroOutkick.com
10. New York (Giants): Gary MyersAuthor
11. New York (Jets): Rich CiminiESPN.com
12. Philadelphia: Paul DomowitchThe33rdTeam.com/PhillyMag.com
13. Pittsburgh: Gerry DulacPittsburgh Post-Gazette
14. Seattle: Mike SandoAthletics
15. Tennessee: Paul KuharskiPaulKuharsky.com
16. Washington: Jarrett BellTHE UNITED STATES TODAY
17. At-Large: Mary Kay CabotCleveland Plain Dealership
18. At-Large: Jason ColeFanSided.com
19. At-Large: Lindsay JonesThe ringtone
20. At-Large: Sal PaolantónioESPN
21. At-Large: Charian WilliamsProfessional Football Discussion

Committee members who have publicly stated they did NOT vote for Belichick:

1. Kansas City: Vahé GregorianKansas City Star

Committee members whose votes are unknown:

1. Atlanta: Darryl LedbetterAtlanta Journal-Constitution
2. Baltimore: Scott Garceau105.7 The Fan/WMAR-TV
3. Caroline: Darin GanttCarolina Panthers
4. Cincinnati, Geoff HobsonBengals.com
5. Dallas: Richard GosselinTalk of Fame Network
6. Denver: Jeff LegwoldESPN/ESPN.com
7. Indianapolis: Mike ChappellFox 59/CBS 4
8. Jacksonville: Sam KouvarisSamSportsLine.com
9. Las Vegas: Paul GutierrezRaiders.com
10. Los Angeles (Rams): Howard BalzerSiriusXM NFL Radio
11. Minnesota: Marc CraigThe Minneapolis Star-Tribune
12. New England: Ron BorgesTalk of Fame Network
13. New Orleans: Jeff DuncanTimes-Picayune
14. San Francisco: Matt MaioccoNBC Sports Bay Region
15. Tampa Bay: Ira KaufmanJoeBucsFan.com
16. PFWA: Calvin WatkinsDallas Morning News
17. At-Large: Joe Bussertretired, NFL office
18. At-Large: Frank CooneyThe sports exchange
19. At-Large: Tony DungyNBC Sports “Football Night in America” ​​(Hall of Fame)
20. At-Large: Dan FoutsBroadcaster (Hall of Famer)
21. At-Large: Judge ClarkTalk of Fame Network
22. At-Large: Ross KetoverNFL Movies
23. At-Large: James LoftonCBS Sports (Hall of Fame)
24. At-Large: Alex MarvezSiriusXM NFL Radio
25. At-Large: Bill PolianSiriusXM NFL Radio (Hall of Fame)
26. At-Large: Lisa SaltersESPN
27. At-Large: Jim Trotterretired, The Athletic
28. At-Large: Barry Wilnerretired, Associated Press

Committee members who will not reveal their vote

1. Caroline: Darin GanttCarolina Panthers
2. Baltimore: Scott Garceau105.7 The Fan/WMAR-TV

Of the group of 50, more than 20 members have already spoken out and said they voted for Belichick.

We also know that at least 11 voters did NOT vote for him.

Mike Sando of The Athletic explained how this might have happened: Some voters might have been turned off by the Spygate allegations, while others might have prioritized senior candidates, who might not make the final ballot next year. It’s also possible that some voters weren’t thrilled with the recent rule change that made former coaches eligible after just a year out of the league.

CBS Sports NFL researcher Doug Clawson also offered some theories on why some voters might have excluded Belichick from their ballot. It’s not just Spygate: there was also Deflategate. And let’s not forget that the Patriots were fined $1.1 million for filming the Bengals sideline in 2019.

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Then there’s mailman Bill Polian. In a story published Tuesday, ESPN reported that Polian tried to convince a few other voters that Belichick deserved to wait at least a year as punishment for Spygate. The former Colts general manager told Sports Illustrated on Tuesday that he definitely voted for Belichick, but then backtracked later that night, telling ESPN that he was 95 percent sure he voted for him.

Hall of Fame voting took place on January 13, and while Polian doesn’t remember it after just two weeks, this opens another set of problems.

The only committee member who has publicly admitted to excluding Belichick from his ballot is Vahe Gregorian of the Kansas City Star, who wrote an article explaining why he excluded the six-time Super Bowl winner from his ballot.

“I did not vote against Belichick or Kraft. I voted for the three senior candidates: Ken Anderson, Roger Craig and LC Greenwood,” Gregorian wrote.

As Sando mentioned, there would almost certainly be a faction of voters who would prioritize admitting senior applicants and that is what Gregorian did. For the senior nominees, this could be their last chance to enter the Hall of Fame and that clearly factored into Gregorian’s decision. On the other hand, Belichick will almost certainly be a finalist next year, so Gregorian didn’t feel obligated to put him in this year, whether he deserves it or not.

If other voters followed the same path as Gregorian, then Belichick’s failure to pass is less of a snub than a flaw in the selection process. And if that is the case, then the Hall will need to think long and hard about what process to follow.