All the buildup for Super Bowl LX between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks has been overshadowed by the Pro Football Hall of Fame's decision to snub Bill Belichick.
Despite winning six Super Bowl titles with the Patriots, Belichick wasn't included in the Class of 2026. The legendary coach needed to get 80% of the votes in order to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. According to reports, he was one short shy of getting into Canton.
During an exclusive interview with NBC's Tom Llamas, President Donald Trump was asked about Belichick failing to make the Hall of Fame on his first ballot. His response was as emphatic as it gets.
"I thought it was terrible. I mean, he’s won so much, won so many Super Bowls. Great coach. Became a little bit controversial, I guess, after that, this little period after that. During it, he was just a great coach. I thought it was very inappropriate," Trump said, via NBC News. "It's like what have you done for me lately? Well, you know, you have a great career and he has had a little bit of a controversial year and a half, two years maybe. But, what difference does that make? No, he should’ve — he should be in there right at the top."
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Changes coming to the Hall of Fame.
NFL Network senior national columnist Judy Battista said the Hall of Fame could change its voting procedure in the coming years. This would be a direct response to Belichick's snub.
"Among the potential changes as outlined by Battista: reducing the size of the 50-person committee, changing the makeup of membership to include more non-media members such as historians and former general managers, reducing the number of modern-era player finalists (currently 15) and making the votes public," a report from NFL.com states. "Battista also reported that the committee will return to in-person voting."
If we had to guess, Belichick will be included in the Hall of Fame Class of 2027. And if not, then something went terribly wrong behind the scenes.