Somehow, former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick will not be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and a former Indianapolis Colts’ GM may have played a role in that.
According to a report from Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham of ESPN, Belichick did not meet the 40 out of 50 vote minimum to be inducted in his first year of eligibility.
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Belichick should have been a shoo-in.
He won eight Super Bowls as a coach in the NFL, six of which came as the Patriots’ head coach. Belichick also has a career record of 333-178. He’s only 14 wins behind Don Shula for the most by a head coach in NFL history.
The first question that comes to mind when reading all of this is, how?
Well, perhaps here’s a piece of that puzzle.
“Multiple sources told ESPN,” wrote Van Natta and Wickersham, “that Spygate and Deflategate, the twin cheating scandals during the Patriots’ championship run, came up in deliberations among voters.
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“A voter who spoke on condition of anonymity said that Polian, an ardent 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.”
Polian was the Colts‘ general manager from 1998-2009, right in the midst of when the Patriots’ initial dynasty began.
Polian’s teams in Indianapolis had a record of 131-61 during his tenure, with a Super Bowl win in 2006.
Belichick will now have to wait another year before he has the opportunity to get in the Hall of Fame.
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: Why didn’t Bill Belichick get voted into the Hall of Fame?