In the wake of the stunning report that Bill Belichick was not voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, a number of the 50 voters have come out and stated they voted for Belichick and believed he would be inducted into Canton this year.
To be inducted into the Hall of Fame, Belichick needed 40 of the 50 votes (or 80%) to be elected this year. He ultimately fell short of the mark.
Amid calls for transparency from the voters that didn’t vote for Belichick, Hall of Fame voter Vahe Gregorian of The Kansas City Star did come forward and admitted he did not vote for Belichick, but because he was voting in favor of the three senior players, not against Belichick.
“In fact, I didn’t vote against Belichick or [Patriots owner Robert] Kraft. I voted for the three senior candidates: Ken Anderson, Roger Craig and L.C. Greenwood,” Gregorian wrote for The Kansas City Star.
Gregorian added, “If the curious selection dynamics now in place allowed for a simple up-down vote on Belichick, as a selector I absolutely would have voted for him this year. I believe he’d have assumed his much-deserved place in Canton in his first year of eligibility in 2026.”
In the current Hall of Fame voting process, coaches, contributors and senior players are all grouped together in one voting session while modern-era player candidates are voted on in a separate group.
This year, the five coach, contributor and senior finalists were Belichick, Kraft, former Steelers defensive end L.C. Greenwood, former Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson and former 49ers running back Roger Craig.
Verderame: A Complicated Voting System Muddled Bill Belichick’s Hall of Fame Case
To be inducted into the Hall of Fame, these finalists must receive at least 80% of the votes and up to three can be elected into the Hall each year. If no one receives 80% of the vote, then the recipient with the highest percentage of the vote gets in.
Not only does Gregorian feel Greenwood, Anderson and Craig are all deserving of making the Hall of Fame, but he believes “the senior backlog remains so overwhelming—including approximately 60 one-time all-decade players—that any chance to climb out is fleeting and fraught.”
“All three have been long deserving of induction in the Hall. All three have been, well, snubbed for decades. ... All of that went into why I felt duty-bound to vote for the richly deserving seniors, who most likely won’t ever have a hearing again as more senior candidates enter the pool and fresh cases get made for others.”
Gregorian also notes that concerns surrounding Belichick over “Spygate” and cheating did not sway his vote.
“Belichick is inevitable soon … as he should be. At the risk of contradicting my own vote, really, he shouldn’t even have to wait. I understand why people are offended that he isn’t going in the first moment he can. ... In the end, though, I felt more compelled by what I perceive to be last chances and looming lost causes within the system as we have it — a system I hope the Hall will see fit to change now.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Hall of Fame Voter Explains Why He Didn’t Vote for Bill Belichick.
