Bill Belichick, the eight-time Super Bowl-winning coach, is not a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
What I'm about to type is not fake news.
According to ESPN, former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick won't be inducted into the Hall of Fame this summer.
Belichick, the eight-time Super Bowl-winning coach, fell short of the 40 out of 50 votes needed for induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame during his first year of eligibility, per ESPN.
Belichick won six Super Bowls with the Patriots and two as a DC with the New York Giants. He currently coaches UNC.
Belichick went 302-165 in the regular season and 31-13 in the playoffs with the Cleveland Browns and Patriots.
Per ESPN, Spygate and Deflategate played big roles in Belichick not making the Hall of Fame.
"Multiple sources told ESPN that Spygate and Deflategate, the twin cheating scandals during the Patriots' championship run, came up in deliberations among voters. A voter who spoke on condition of anonymity said that Bill Polian, an ardent Robert Kraft supporter and former general manager of the Buffalo Bills and Indianapolis Colts -- a chief Patriots rival during their dynasty -- told some voters he believed Belichick should 'wait a year' before induction as penance for Spygate, the 2007 cheating scandal that cost the team a first-round draft pick. Commissioner Roger Goodell also fined the Patriots $500,000 and fined Belichick $250,000."
With an NFL coaching record of 333-178, including the playoffs -- second all-time to Don Shula's 347 wins-- Belichick was considered by most fans and Hall of Fame voters to be a first-ballot lock.
However, it looks like Belichick's past came back to bite him.
"The only explanation [for the outcome] was the cheating stuff," a veteran Hall of Game voter told ESPN. "It really bothered some of the guys."
When told that Belichick isn't a first-ballot Hall of Famer, Peter King, a 32-year Hall of Fame voter who didn't cast a ballot this year, said: "Holy f---! Oh f---! ... I'm very, very surprised."
"A lot of things happen in that room that are unexpected. And of course this is a big surprise to me," King told ESPN.
Belichick coached the Patriots from 2000 to 2023. He went 6-3 in the Super Bowl with Tom Brady.
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