The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced five new members that will be enshrined in Canton, Ohio, in August. One key name stood out among all others as a controversial miss: former Patriots coach and six-time Super Bowl winner Bill Belichick.
Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald, Adam Vinatieri, Luke Kuechly and Roger Craig make up the 2026 Hall of Fame class. Belichick missed out on becoming a first-ballot Hall of Famer, falling short of the 40 out of 50 votes needed for induction into the Hall. Shortly after the new class was announced, Hall of Fame president Jim Porter said that several tweaks to the voting process are being considered, although Belichick’s snub isn’t the cause of the potential changes.
According to the Associated Press, the Hall of Fame plans to return to in-person voting and discussion for the committee of 50 members. The committee moved to virtual meetings due to the COVID pandemic. Josh Dubow of the AP also reported the Hall will look at replacing voters who may have violated rules by publicly discussing the off-the-record debate about candidates or by not voting the “most deserving” candidates in.
“I’m not here to tell them who the most deserving is,” Porter said via the AP. “If the Hall was to tell who the most deserving is, we wouldn’t need them to vote. We understand that. We just want the rules followed.”
The Hall groups coach, contributor and senior candidates together and a maximum of three candidates from the combined category can be elected in any given year. Belichick and Patriots owner Robert Kraft were in said group, with neither getting a minimum 80% of the vote to get enshrined. Craig was the sole member of the finalists from the group to get in this year. In the interview with the AP, Porter was not inclined to change grouping coaches and contributors with senior players as that has worked over previous decades although it’s being brought into question now.
Another change Porter brought up is potentially delaying the vote closer to the reveal at the NFL Honors ceremony to reduce chances of leaks—plus considering the release of vote totals and individual ballots in future years.
The Hall of Fame and its voting process has been under scrutiny since Belichick was spurned and it appears its considering multiple changes as soon as next year, although Porter says the shifts would not be related to the outcry surrounding the legendary coach.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Pro Football Hall of Fame Mulls Voting Process Changes Amid Bill Belichick Backlash.
