What was the primary reason behind Bill Belichick not being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility?
Could it be his record without Tom Brady? A stacked class? Maybe, an issue of timing?
FOX Sports’ Chris Broussard thinks it’s actually much simpler than that.
“All of that is hogwash,” Broussard said on First Things First on Wednesday. “There is only one explanation for Bill Belichick not getting in on the first ballot — and that is cheating. That’s it. If you didn’t vote for Bill Belichick for any other reason, you shouldn’t be a voter.”
(Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
Broussard is opining that Belichick is being punished for the 2007 Spygate scandal. The New England Patriots were penalized for illegally videotaping the New York Jets before their Week 1 matchup. Belichick was ultimately fined $50,000 for the infringement, and Broussard thinks his snubbing is another form of punishment for cheating 19 years ago.
“There are some people we could argue shouldn’t even be on the ballot. Bill Belichick comes — he should just be in,” Broussard said. “It’s not even a vote. Tom Brady, there’s no vote, he’s in. There are some people you can do that. Belichick is in that class. So if you actually voted against him, you do not deserve a vote. This is too important. And I’m convinced it’s the cheating. When you cheat, you got nothing to say.”
“I’m not saying he shouldn’t get in. I’m fine with a slap, a reminder, ‘Hey, you didn’t do it all above board, so you’re going to wait a year or two.’
Danny Parkins doesn’t believe that misconduct should keep Belichick out of the NFL Hall of Fame.
“It’s absurd,” Parkins said on First Things First, “The pro football Hall of Fame is supposed to be based on merit. It’s the toughest Hall of Fame to get into. There’s 50 voters. Very exclusive class. And there are no guiding principles. The baseball Hall of Fame has a morality clause written into it. Well, if Bill Belichick were up for the baseball Hall of Fame, I don’t think he’d make it…. The Spygate stuff would feel a lot more relevant to me if it was the baseball Hall of Fame instead of the football Hall of Fame. Football Hall of Fame is, judge your candidacy.”
Parkins backed this argument up with stats about Belichick’s career following the 2007 Spygate fiasco.
From 2008 on, Belichick would have been second all-time in Super Bowls (4) to Chuck Noll, second in conference titles (6) to Don Shula, and fourth in playoff wins (16) behind Tom Landry, Noll, Shula.
