There is mystery growing around how and why Bill Belichick was not voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
Eight Super Bowls won, six as a head coach of one of the league's greatest dynasties.
Over 30 years as a head coach with the second-most wins in NFL history upon stepping away from the pro game.
Universally acclaimed as one of the best coaching tacticians not just of his time, but that the league has ever seen.
And yet, this resume for former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick did not earn him enough votes to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year, his first on the ballot.
Belichick, as reported by ESPN, fell short of the 40 necessary tallies from the 50 members of the voting committee.
It's safe to say that it wasn't just Pats fans who were enraged by the news that Belichick was stripped of this "first-ballot Hall of Famer" title, regardless of his likelihood to enter the fraternity one day.
He deserves it immediately, not eventually.
Hall of Fame coach of the Dallas Cowboys, Jimmy Johnson, has been especially livid on social media over the last few hours. The following quotes are just a hint of his NSFW rampage:
"This is just WRONG ..#2 winning ALL TIME…more Super Bowls than anyone unimaginable # of division championships…lot of small jealous voters,"
"I would like to know the names of the [expletive] who did not vote for him..they are too cowardly to identify themselves…"
"As a HOF coach I think Bill Belichick is the greatest of all time…yes he had a great QB but we all did..he won AFTER THE salary cap and free agency plus I Know how much he LOVES THE NFL and the game..I’m pissed.."
Some reports suggest that because Belichick's Patriots were involved in scandals like "Deflategate" and "Spygate" during his tenure, that he should "wait a year" as some form of retribution. These rumors seem to point to former Indianapolis Colts executive Bill Polian as a figure who has rallied voters to exclude Belichick from their ballot, however Polian has disputed this.
"I voted for Coach Belichick in the Hall of Fame selection meeting," Polian said on Sirius XM radio on Wednesday. "The Pro Football Hall of Fame has confirmed that fact through the auditors of the selection process. Again, I'll state that I never said that Coach Belichick should "wait a year" for enshrinement. This has been confirmed by the Pro Football Hall of Fame, numerous selectors who were in the room, and my vote for Coach Belichick.
"As a Hall of Fame member and selector, I realize the importance of what we do. I've always tried as a selector to make these difficult choices with the utmost objectivity. I've said on Sirius XM Radio and numerous other media outlets that I believe Coach Belichick to be a first ballot Hall of Famer. My vote confirms that."
Johnson reiterated his point on ESPN's Pat McAfee Show Wednesday afternoon after contacting voters.
Another legendary Cowboys figure, three-time Super Bowl winning quarterback, longtime television analyst and Hall of Famer Troy Aikman, joined in the disbelief.
"A disappointing day for the Pro Football Hall of Fame," Aikman wrote on social media.
Of the 50 voters, two have close ties to recent Dallas Cowboys coverage in Charean Williams of NBC's Pro Football Talk and Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News.
Watkins wrote a column for the paper Wednesday titled, "Why my vote on Bill Belichick's Hall of Fame candidacy was an easy decision". In the column, Watkins, who has been a Hall of Fame voter for the past three years, acnkowledged the difficulty of this responsibility, both logistically in terms of numbers required and in paying due respect to the process, each candidate, and the game itself.
Said Watkins, drawing from a comparable voting confliction from recent memory: "When it comes to myself, I understand the scandals involving Belichick might give some voters pause about making him a first-ballot Hall of Famer. However, I’m reminded how defensive end Julius Peppers was voted in on the first ballot for the Class of 2024 after a 17-year career where he earned a Defensive Player of the Year award, three All-Pro teams and was named to an All-Decade team in the 2000s and 2010s. Peppers was suspended for the final four games of his rookie season in 2002 for testing positive for a banned substance. Nobody held that against him.
"When it comes to Belichick, he should be in the Hall of Fame. I voted for him because he’s deserving. The man won six Super Bowls as a head coach, was a defensive coordinator for two more title teams, rebuilt the Patriots into a dynasty and is one of the more respected coaches in the history of the game. It’s an easy decision."
Williams, too, expressed her shock on social media following the report, and added her stance of confusion around the voting process. "[This year's candidates] Roger Craig, Ken Anderson and LC Greenwood are all deserving. I didn’t vote for all three because I had Belichick as one of my three. I don’t like the process, but it is what it is. You have to leave two of the five off your ballot. I thought Belichick was a no-brainer."
"Yeah," Williams added later, "I can’t explain anyone’s reasoning for not voting for Bill Belichick. I never had the feeling he wasn’t going in first ballot. It is stunning."
Says our own Cowboys insider Mike Fisher, "Free advice to well-meaning [Pro Football Hall of Fame] voters: Dump the moronic concept of the ‘first-ballot HOF’er.’ If a person is HOF-worthy , they’re HOF-worthy. Period."