Bill Belichick is not a first-ballot Hall of Famer
USA TODAY FTW’s Prince Grimes explains how six-time Super Bowl winning head coach Bill Belichick missed out on being inducted into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot.
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The NFL world is still reeling from the news that former New England Patriots head coach and six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick will no longer be on the first ballot for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The biggest surprise was former quarterback Tom Brady, who led all six of Belichick’s Super Bowl-winning Patriots teams.
“I don’t understand it. I mean, I was with him every day. If he’s not a first-ballot Hall of Famer, there’s really no coach who should be a Hall of Famer,” Brady, a five-time Super Bowl MVP and current anchor on FOX Sports, said in an interview with Seattle Sports.
“There’s no coach I’d rather play for,” Brady continued. “If I had to pick one coach to win the Super Bowl, give me just one season, I’d pick Bill Belichick.”
Brady, who was Belichick’s head coach during his entire tenure with the Patriots, continued to believe that moments like his former coach’s disdain are things that happen in a “voting world” where factors such as popularity are taken into account.
The seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback said he knows Belichick will eventually be inducted into the Hall of Fame, even if he isn’t as first-ballot as many expected.
“When that happens, we’ll all be there to celebrate him,” Brady said. “He’s going to have a big crowd of so many players and coaches who appreciate everything he’s done and his dedication to winning and the impact he’s had on all of our lives. And when that happens, it’s going to be a great celebration.”
Brady has supported Belichick for years. In a memo shared with Hall of Fame voters, Brady explained why the former head coach deserves to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“I don’t think there’s been a more Hall of Fame coach in the history of the game than Bill Belichick. To say he was my biggest influence as a manager would be an understatement,” Brady wrote in a memo via Armando Salguero.
“His mindset, consistency and ability to adapt and evolve were unparalleled. He expected championship-level standards from everyone in the building and he understood that. That’s why we won! And that’s why he belongs in Canton.”
Belichick won six Super Bowls as the Patriots’ head coach during his 24-year tenure in New England. Prior to becoming the Patriots’ head coach in 2000, he won Super Bowls XXI and XXV as the defensive coordinator for the New York Giants under head coach Bill Parcells.
The record holder for Super Bowl wins as a head coach is currently the head football coach for the University of North Carolina Tarheels, who posted a 4-8 record in his first season last year.
