In the most stunning news of the week, Bill Belichick was not elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on his first ballot. How could this have happened to the six-time Super Bowl champion and undisputed Patriots legend?
As the NFL world grappled with the consequences of Belichick’s snub, one Hall of Fame voter, The Athletic’s Mike Sando, took the time to explain exactly how Belichick could have been passed over on his first attempt to get into Canton.
Before getting into Sando’s analysis, here’s a quick breakdown of the voting process itself:
A 50-person panel of media members makes up Canton’s selection committee, and this panel decides who gets into the Hall of Fame. It includes everyone from reporters to broadcasters and former players and coaches.
In this year’s candidate pool, Belichick was on the ballot alongside New England owner Robert Kraft, Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson, Steelers defensive end L.C. Greenwood and 49ers fullback Roger Craig. The current voting system has each of the 50 voters getting three votes apiece, so each voter picks three of those five to make it into the Hall of Fame. At least one of the five must be elected, but no more than three can get in; a candidate needs 40 votes (80%) to be inducted.
It should have been an easy slam-dunk for Belichick to cruise into Canton, assuming that at least 40 people on the panel considered him a Hall of Famer. So where did it all go wrong?
Sando listed several possibilities that could have caused Belichick to somehow receive fewer than 40 votes:
Possibility No. 1: A handful of voters assumed Belichick was going to be elected, so they voted for other candidates instead.
Possibility No. 2: A handful of voters decided to prioritize senior players on the ballot assuming that Belichick will be back on the ballot next year while other players (i.e. Craig) might not get another chance.
Possibility No. 3: Some voters wanted to punish Belichick for Spygate and Deflategate. A lot of buzz surrounding former NFL executive Bill Polian on this one.
Possibility No. 4: A few voters may have been protesting the new Hall of Fame rules, which made coaches eligible one year after retiring instead of five.
I'm a HOF voter who saw Belichick as slam-dunk. I don't know anything about voting results, but if this is true, and we'll find out officially next week, the question is, how could this happen?
— Mike Sando (@SandoNFL) January 27, 2026
Before I list possibilities, understand this:
Belichick, Kraft, Craig, Anderson &… https://t.co/V8okBDsReH
Sando went on to predict changes to the Hall of Fame voting process in the wake of Belichick’s snub, as many rightfully believe there should be.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Hall of Fame Voter Broke Down Four Possibilities That Led to Bill Belichick Snub.
