Introduction
There are days when the NFL feels like a corporation first and a sport second. This week, for once, it felt like the sport punched back.
Bill Belichick didn’t get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on the first ballot. The same Hall vote where the Class of 2026 was announced (Brees, Fitzgerald, Kuechly, Vinatieri, Craig) came and went—and Belichick didn’t make the cut.
And I’m going to say the quiet part out loud: I’m tickled.
Not because I don’t understand the résumé. I do. Six Super Bowls as a head coach. A dynasty. A coaching tree. A defensive mind that changed how football is played. Nobody sane argues the man wasn’t brilliant.
But brilliance isn’t the only category we’re talking about here.
We’re talking about the Hall of Fame—football’s supposed cathedral, the place where the game says, “This is what we honor.” And in my view, the Hall finally got one thing right: you don’t get to drag a cheating cloud behind you for years, keep the rings, keep the records, keep the “genius” label, and then demand a first-ballot gold jacket like nothing happened.
You want the ultimate slap in the face to the dynasty? Not stripping banners. Not vacating wins (the NFL will never do that—too much money, too much brand, too much “don’t rock the boat”). The real slap is simpler:
We can keep cheaters out of the Hall. Or at least make them wait.
The “How Is This Possible?!” Crowd Can Relax
The outrage has been loud. Predictably loud.
A parade of media voices and famous athletes acted like the Hall committed a felony. Social media lit up with disbelief and indignation—Mahomes, LeBron, Deion, you name it.
And look, I get it. We live in an era where greatness is treated like a coupon: show your stats at the door and the bouncer has to let you in immediately.
But the Hall isn’t “Football Reference Plus.” It’s not a spreadsheet. It’s an honor. And honors are allowed to include judgment.
Belichick reportedly didn’t get the required votes from the 50-person committee—40 votes is the threshold being reported for this category.
So the committee did what committees are allowed to do: they weighed the entire story. Not just the rings.
Good.
Cheating Is Cheating, Even When It’s “Smart” Cheating
Here’s the part that drives people crazy: some fans and commentators treat cheating like it’s a clever little side quest—like it’s “gamesmanship” if the guy holding the clipboard looks like a professor.
Spygate wasn’t a rumor. The NFL fined Belichick the maximum $500,000 and fined the Patriots, too, tied to videotaping opponents’ signals in violation of league rules.
Deflategate wasn’t “nothing,” either. The league punished the Patriots with a $1 million fine and draft pick losses, and Brady was suspended four games (eventually served in 2016 after the legal fight).
Now, you can argue about intensity, intent, narrative, media hysteria—fine. People can debate anything. But the league disciplined them. These weren’t internet fanfics. They’re real black marks in the record.
And yes, I’m going to call it what it is: cheating.
If you break rules designed to protect competitive fairness, you don’t get to hide behind “everybody does it.” That’s not a defense—that’s a confession that you just want cheating normalized.
The NFL Wouldn’t Strip Titles—So This Is the Next Best Thing
Let’s be honest about why the NFL didn’t go nuclear.
Vacating wins, stripping Super Bowls, erasing history—those moves torch the product. They punch holes in the legend the league sells every Sunday. They also invite lawsuits, chaos, and long-term brand damage.
So the NFL did what big institutions often do: it issued punishments, swallowed hard, and moved on—because the machine must keep printing money.
That’s why the Hall vote matters. Because the Hall is one of the few places where the game can still say, “We remember what you did.”
The rings will stay. The banners will stay. The documentaries will stay.
But the Hall? The Hall can make you sit outside and knock a little longer.
And I love that.
The Hall of Fame Is Not a Participation Trophy for Legends
Here’s what I think people forget: “first ballot” isn’t just “eventually.” It’s a special label. It’s the game saying you were so beyond dispute—so clean, so undeniable—that we didn’t even need time to think.
Belichick’s career is not clean in that sense. Not spotless. Not beyond dispute.
So why should he be rubber-stamped as first-ballot, no questions asked?
If your legacy includes major rule violations and scandals that became permanent nouns (“Spygate,” “Deflategate”), you don’t get to act shocked when voters decide you’re not a same-day shipment.
You can still get in later. You can still be recognized. You can still have your coaching genius appreciated.
But “first ballot” is supposed to mean something.
“But Everyone Cheats!” — No. And Even If They Did, So What?
This is the weakest argument fans make, and they make it constantly.
- “Everyone cheats.”
Even if that were true (it’s not), it’s still not a moral argument. That’s just saying you want your favorite guy graded on a curve. - “They didn’t gain an advantage.”
Then why do it? Why risk it? Why violate the rules at all? People don’t break rules for fun when championships are on the line. - “He already paid the price.”
He paid a price. Not every price. And that’s exactly why the Hall vote is valuable: it’s one of the few consequences that can’t be bargained down by money, PR, or league convenience.
The Media’s Panic Is Exactly Why I’m Smiling
The reaction has been so dramatic that the Hall is reportedly considering changes to the voting process—more transparency, more accountability, potentially adjustments after this controversy.
And that tells you everything.
Not “How do we protect the Hall’s meaning?”
But “How do we stop people from getting mad when a legend doesn’t get what he expects?”
I’m not saying the process is perfect. Committees are messy. Voters have biases. The rules can be confusing and the categories can get political.
But the result here? The result is a rare example of an institution resisting the celebrity spell.
Some people want the Hall to function like a lifetime achievement award handed out by applause meter. That’s not honor. That’s entertainment.
Honor is allowed to have standards.
My Standard Is Simple: Greatness + Integrity
This is where I land, and I’m comfortable being the unpopular voice at the sports bar.
Belichick was great. Historically great.
But greatness doesn’t automatically overwrite integrity. When your legacy includes serious violations that the league itself punished, you don’t get an automatic “first ballot” stamp like it’s a birthright.
The Hall didn’t erase his career. It didn’t pretend he doesn’t matter. It didn’t say he’ll never get in.
It just said, “Not yet. Not first ballot.”
And that—honestly—is the closest thing the NFL world will ever get to accountability when the business side refuses to touch the championships.
So yeah. I’m tickled.
Because for once, the machine didn’t protect the myth completely.
Why This Matters
If the Hall of Fame becomes a place where winning alone erases everything else, then the message to every coach and player is simple: do whatever it takes, and we’ll celebrate you anyway.
That’s not the game I want to watch.
The Hall should be the one room in football that still has the courage to say: yes, you can be brilliant—and still carry a stain that costs you something.
Not everything. But something.
References
ESPN. (2007, September 13). Belichick draws $500,000 fine, but avoids suspension.
ESPN. (2015, May 11). NFL suspends Tom Brady for 4 games; Patriots fined $1 million and lose draft picks.
ESPN. (2026, January 27). Sources: Bill Belichick will not be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
CBS Sports. (2026, January 27). Bill Belichick falls short of Pro Football Hall of Fame on first ballot.
Pro Football Hall of Fame. (2026, February 5). Pro Football Hall of Fame to enshrine five in Class of 2026.
Fox Sports. (2026, January 28). Sports world reacts to Bill Belichick’s first-ballot Hall of Fame snub.
NFL.com. (2026, February 6). Pro Football Hall of Fame to consider changes after Belichick’s omission sparks outrage.
Disclaimer
The views expressed in this post are opinions of the author for educational and commentary purposes only. They are not statements of fact about any individual or organization, and should not be construed as legal, medical, or financial advice. References to public figures and institutions are based on publicly available sources cited in the article. Any resemblance beyond these references is coincidental.
