It's easy to say a system is broken when the coach with the most Super Bowl rings in NFL history gets snubbed from the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
Arguably the greatest coach the game has ever seen, Bill Belichick somehow did not receive the 80 percent vote needed for induction into the Hall of Fame. He should have been a unanimous selection, and yet he fell short of the threshold.
Football stars past and present took to social media to share their reactions, and former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman was among them. The three-time Super Bowl champion didn’t go scorched earth, but he didn’t need to. His reaction said it all.
A disappointing day for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
— Troy Aikman (@TroyAikman) January 28, 2026
Cowboys legend Troy Aikman reacts to Bill Belichick's Hall of Fame snub
Disappointing would be an understatement.
Player or coach, Belichick is one of the most accomplished individuals in the history of football. His 467 wins are the second-most ever, and he's won a record eight Super Bowls: six as a head coach with the Patriots and two as an assistant with the Giants. Nobody has more playoff wins than Belichick and he was a three-time AP Coach of the Year.
Even with the reputation as a habitual line stepper, Belichick should have walked into Canton. Say what you will about Spygate and Deflategate, but you simply do not make Bill Belichick wait a year as a message-sending action.
The great Jimmy Johnson is also repulsed.
"This is just WRONG ..#2 winning ALL TIME…more Super Bowls than anyone unimaginable # of division championships…lot of small jealous voters," Johnson posted on X.
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One thing is for certain, and it's that this would not have happened if the voting process weren't anonymous. If voters' names were attached to their ballots and had to face the backlash of snubbing one of the most iconic people in NFL history, they would think twice and thrice about doing so.
A plethora of voters have confirmed publicly that they voted for Belichick.
However, ESPN's report said that Hall of Fame executive Bill Polian -- a HoF voter and former rival of Belichick's during his 12 years in the Indianapolis Colts' front office -- led an effort to delay Belichick's induction, citing the Patriots' Spygate and Deflategate scandals.
If voters are letting grudges influence more than just their own ballot, they should be removed from the committee. Plain and simple.
Like Aikman said, it's a disappointing day for the Hall of Fame. The entire process suddenly feels like a farce.