Bill Polian denies role in Bill Belichick Hall of Fame snub: 'I voted for him'

Bill Polian set the record straight after reports indicated that he played a role in Bill Belichick not being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year. Belichick, who won six Super Bowls as coach of the New England Patriots from 2000-23, did not receive the 40 needed votes to get in as a first ballot Hall of Famer.

ESPN reported that Polian, a former GM for the Indianapolis Colts, suggested that voters “wait a year” before inducting Belichick due to his infamous Deflategate and Spygate scandals. But now Polian is pushing back against that narrative, saying he voted for Belichick to get in.

“That’s totally and categorically untrue,” Polian said according to Matt Verderame of Sports Illustrated. “I voted for him.”

In addition to the six Super Bowls that he won as head coach of the Patriots, Belichick also won two more as an assistant coach with the New York Giants. He also won 17 AFC East division titles and nine AFC Championships. His overall record is 302-165 if you include his five years with the Cleveland Browns.

Given his resume, many assumed that Belichick would be an easy choice to make the Hall of Fame. And while he’ll almost certainly be inducted at some point in the future, it’s surprising that it wasn’t this year.

Polian’s Colts were rivals with Belichick and the Patriots for nearly the entire time that he worked in the front office until 2011, as they were often right alongside them in the postseason race. This is perhaps where some of the idea that Polian was behind Belichick’s HOF snub came from.

“A voter who spoke on condition of anonymity said that Polian, an ardent Kraft supporter and former general manager of the Buffalo Bills and Indianapolis Colts — a chief Patriots rival during their dynasty — told some voters he believed Belichick should ‘wait a year’ before induction as penance for Spygate, the 2007 cheating scandal that cost the team a first-round draft pick,” ESPN’s Seth Wickersham reported. “Commissioner Roger Goodell also fined the Patriots $500,000 and fined Belichick $250,000.”

Spygate took place in 2007, one of the two years the Patriots lost in the Super Bowl to the New York Giants. Deflategate stemmed from the 2014 AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts. New England won 45-7, only to go on and beat the Seattle Seahawks on the famous Malcolm Butler interception at the goal line.

But while the original thought was that these are what kept Belichick from being a first ballot Hall of Famer, the comments from Polian dispute that. Regardless, we’ll look to see the coach get in hopefully by next year.