Even the biggest New England Patriots haters out there had to be completely confused when some results of the most recent Pro Football Hall of Fame voting round were released, as former Pats head coach Bill Belichick was not named a Hall of Famer despite having six championships under his belt.
While every NFL fan with an IQ roughly around room temperature understands that Belichick is one of of the greatest individuals to ever be associated with the NFL, no one knows that better than Tom Brady. Belichick's former quarterback was almost lost for words trying to describe his feelings after Bill was not elected.
In an interview with a local Seattle radio station, Brady said that he didn't "understand it" when he saw that Belichick was snubbed. Brady said that no coach after Belichick should ever make it to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot after Belichick was prevented from entry.
Tom Brady can't believe Patriots legend Bill Belichick missed out on Hall of Fame
There is some scuttlebutt suggesting that former Indianapolis Colts GM Bill Polian used his influence to persuade voters into keeping Belichick out for a year, citing the scandals he lorded over between Spygate and Deflategate. That line of inquiry makes no sense, as Belichick was already disciplined for his actions.
By that logic, shouldn't Brady himself have to wait a year? There's no way in the world Brady will not saunter into Canton at the earliest possible time, which is the way it should be. As a result, it looks like the voters are using their personal distaste for Belichick to put some black marks over his legacy.
As a coach, it's almost pointless to argue for him based on his resume, because his resume dwarfs everyone else in the history of the game. There are multiple coaches in the Hall of Fame who did not win a Super Bowl, but apparently winning six of them and appearing in nine is not good enough for this crew.
The Hall of Fame has long maintained that only on-field performance can be considered when selecting members for induction, and doing this to Belichick flies in the face of that directive by prioritizing personal grievances.
Belichick will get in eventually, and Brady will be there with him, but the Hall has done some borderline irreparable damage to their reputation. You can't tell the story of the NFL without Belichick at or near the center of it.