Former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick will not be a first ballot Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee. The six-time Patriots’ Super Bowl champion was thought to be a first ballot lock by many for the Hall of Fame, but Belichick fell short of the 40 out of 50 votes needed, according to ESPN. Multiple sources believe it had to be due to New England’s cheating scandals. But if that’s the case, what does it mean for Tom Brady’s first ballot Hall of Fame chances?
Ryan Clark: Will Tom Brady Have To Wait Too?
The news that Belichick missed the cut to be a first-ballot Hall of Fame inductee rocked the sports world on Tuesday afternoon, prompting ESPN’s Ryan Clark, a Super Bowl winner with the Steelers, to wonder how it would affect Tom Brady.
“If rumors are true and Bill Polian led the charge of Belichick waiting because of Deflategate and Spygate does that mean that Tom Brady has to wait to?” Clark wrote on X. “Because ain’t no fricking way Tom is waiting or should wait… and neither should Bill!”
If rumors are true and Bill Polian led the charge of Belichick waiting because of Deflategate and Spygate does that mean that Tom Brady has to wait to?
Because ain’t no fricking way Tom is waiting or should wait… and neither should Bill!
— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) January 27, 2026
The Hall’s voting committee is composed mostly of former NFL players, but also includes other football figures, such as former general manager Bill Polian and former coach Tony Dungy.
The ballot also included Patriots owner Robert Kraft this year, and there was a strong belief that either Belichick or Kraft would make the first ballot.
“Multiple sources told ESPN that Spygate and Deflategate, the twin cheating scandals during the Patriots’ championship run, came up in deliberations among voters,” ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham wrote.
“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.
“Commissioner Roger Goodell also fined the Patriots $500,000 and fined Belichick $250,000.”
Clark obviously disagrees with the sentiment that Belichick should have to wait a year because of the cheating scandals, as do many in the sports world.
Regardless of your opinion of Bill Belichick, him not being a first ballot Hall of Famer is a disgrace — and a direct indictment on the Hall of Fame itself.
Just an absolute joke. pic.twitter.com/TBuyVnbZAg
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) January 27, 2026
I can’t be reading this right.
This has to be some knock-off Hall of Fame or something, it can’t be the actual NFL Hall of Fame.
There is not a single world whatsoever in which Bill Belichick should not be a First-Ballot Hall of Famer. https://t.co/OXhL1Sd4FM
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) January 27, 2026
If BILL BELICHICK isn’t a first ballot HOFer who is!? pic.twitter.com/qywmMgbLuD
— Darius Butler (@DariusJButler) January 27, 2026
The voters have to not remain anonymous anymore. We need an explanation for why Bill Belichick one of the greatest coaches ever of any level of any sport with 8 SB’s is not a first ballot HOF’er……… No explanation will be valid but I need to know. I’m sorry man!! This insane!
— Gerald McCoy (@Geraldini93) January 27, 2026
Bill Belichick is officially not a first ballot Pro Football Hall Of Famer
Bill Belichick..
Bill Belichick could be in 🐐 conversations for Coach AND GM and he isn’t a first ballot Hall Of Famer in the PRO FOOTBALL Hall Of Fame https://t.co/B82i0PTbMD pic.twitter.com/LIg7DoFrFT
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 27, 2026
Belichick also voiced his disappointment.
“Six Super Bowls isn’t enough?” Belichick asked an associate, per ESPN. “What does a guy have to do?”
Belichick coached for 48 years in the NFL and held a 333-178 record as the Patriots’ head coach for 24 years. He won six Super Bowls in New England and two more as a defensive coordinator with the New York Giants.
He won the AP NFL Coach of the Year three times and is second in career wins to Don Shula.
“The only explanation [for the outcome] was the cheating stuff,” a veteran Hall voter told ESPN on Tuesday. “It really bothered some of the guys.”
The inductees of this year’s Hall of Fame class will be announced next week during Super Bowl activities.
