No matter how much “credit” you may think Bill Belichick deserves for the Patriots’ two decades of dominance with Tom Brady at quarterback, his snubbing from the Pro Football Hall of Fame last year was pretty much unacceptable and shattered all credibility of the voting committee. To ensure that such a snub never happens again, the Hall is making seismic changes to its voting process.
On Friday, the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced that it is overhauling its selection process with some of the changes altering the way they’ve voted in players for over 50 years.
Among the changes being made are the elimination of the “senior category” of players, reducing the selection committee from 50 to 25 while adding three non-voting participants with annual reviews of voting status, changing the pool of finalists to 15 – 13 players, one coach and one contributor – per year, and having one non-committee member present all candidates rather than NFL market leaders.
“The Hall said it hoped the new rules would curtail ‘unintended biases’ in three areas: disparate presentation skills among selectors; team markets from which selectors hail; and the pressure to enshrine candidates before they transitioned from modern-era (retired between five and 25 years) to senior status,” Mike Sando of The Athletic wrote.
Do fans like the changes?
For the most part, fans weren’t too impressed by the changes. Some feel that there isn’t much done to ensure that all of the most deserving players get in while others are still worried that their favorite players are going to be snubbed again:
“Too late. Lost all credibility leaving Belichick out,” one user said dismissively.
“The Pro Football Hall of Fame is a joke and a half. When you don’t indict a HC with 6 Super Bowl rings, whose defensive gameplan is already displayed in Canton how can we take you seriously?” wrote another.
“Many of The voters are simply dimwits. Any voter who didn’t cast a vote for Belichick should Be ousted. Personal bias over obvious domination. Jealousy and envy are powerful influencers,” a third wrote.
“Wonder what happened. Oh yeah one of the greatest coaches didn’t get in because people decided they can punish him for something the league already did.”
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Many fans will never forgive the Pro Football Hall of Fame for snubbing Belichick but they probably won’t have to worry about that moving forward.
Next year he’s basically a lock to get in if only to avoid more embarrassment, and the changes will hopefully help get some players who have waited decades for their spot in Canton to finally get in.
