Previous reports mentioned that Bill Belichick’s involvement in the “Spygate” and “Deflategate” scandals during his time with the New England Patriots was mentioned during deliberations among voters before Belichick was surprisingly not selected as a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
For a piece by Ian O’Connor of The Athletic that was published on Thursday, one voter said that “Spygate” was the “main reason” for the Belichick snub.
How the Hall of Fame vote ultimately went against Bill Belichick
“Belichick’s case was debated for close to an hour, the longest time spent on any candidate, according to one person in the meeting who said the first half of that period was celebratory in tone,” O’Connor explained. “But then ‘Spygate’ was raised — along with Belichick’s losing record without Tom Brady as his quarterback — and it became apparent that some voters had a problem with rewarding a first-ballot honor to a coach who had been caught cheating.”
“Spygate” involved the Patriots illegally filming opponents’ signals in 2007. Meanwhile, a different story for The Athletic noted that Belichick’s career record without having Brady as his QB1 was 83-104, good for a lackluster .449 winning percentage.
Of course, that mark doesn’t take away from the fact that Brady and Belichick helped the Patriots win six Super Bowl championships from 2000 through the 2019 season.
Hall of Fame voter reacts to Bill Belichick snub
Longtime NFL reporter and Hall of Fame voter Gary Myers voted for Belichick and told O’Connor that his “feeling is that the majority of people who voted no on Belichick voted that way because of ‘Spygate.'” Jason Cole also voted for Belichick and said he thinks it’s “absurd” that some didn’t due to the scandal.
“Bill’s was the same gamesmanship that guys in this league have done for a 100 years,” Cole continued. “…You can get lost in the minutiae of anyone, but if you took a step back and looked at the 20 candidates, the most qualified candidate was Bill Belichick. He was part of the league for 50 years, and the road to the Super Bowl almost always went through him.”
Renewed questions regarding the process for choosing Hall of Famers arose after one voter admitted he selected three senior players over Belichick. According to O’Connor, other voters determined that Belichick “was going to wait at least two years” for his Hall induction because he was found to be “hurting the other team with his outlawed approach” via his “Spygate” tactics.
For years, baseball writers have made it clear they feel alleged steroid users aren’t worthy of being in the Hall of Fame. Perhaps members of the football community can only blame themselves for not being better prepared for this Belichick-related development before he was rejected as a first-ballot selection.