Bill Belichick, the eight-time Super Bowl-winning coach, is not a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
In voting earlier this month, Belichick 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, four sources with firsthand knowledge of the outcome told ESPN. Belichick received a call from a Hall representative last Friday afternoon with the news that he won't be inducted into the Hall in Canton, Ohio, this summer.
With an NFL coaching record of 333-178, including playoffs -- career victories second only to Don Shula's 347 -- Belichick was considered by most fans and Hall voters to be a first-ballot lock.
The Hall's voting committee is composed mostly of veteran NFL reporters, but also includes football figures such as former general manager Bill Polian and former coach Tony Dungy, both of whom are Hall of Famers.
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 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, 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.
"The only explanation [for the outcome] was the cheating stuff," a veteran Hall voter told ESPN on Tuesday. "It really bothered some of the guys."
Sources: Bill Belichick will not be a first-ballot Hall of Famer - ESPN
In voting earlier this month, Belichick 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, four sources with firsthand knowledge of the outcome told ESPN. Belichick received a call from a Hall representative last Friday afternoon with the news that he won't be inducted into the Hall in Canton, Ohio, this summer.
With an NFL coaching record of 333-178, including playoffs -- career victories second only to Don Shula's 347 -- Belichick was considered by most fans and Hall voters to be a first-ballot lock.
The Hall's voting committee is composed mostly of veteran NFL reporters, but also includes football figures such as former general manager Bill Polian and former coach Tony Dungy, both of whom are Hall of Famers.
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 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, 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.
"The only explanation [for the outcome] was the cheating stuff," a veteran Hall voter told ESPN on Tuesday. "It really bothered some of the guys."
Sources: Bill Belichick will not be a first-ballot Hall of Famer - ESPN
