{"id":2163,"date":"2026-01-28T16:26:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T16:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/media\/?p=2163"},"modified":"2026-01-28T16:26:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T16:26:08","slug":"sports-media-reacts-to-belichick-missing-out-on-hall-of-fame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/media\/sports-media\/sports-media-reacts-to-belichick-missing-out-on-hall-of-fame\/","title":{"rendered":"Sports Media Reacts To Belichick Missing Out On Hall Of Fame"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The announcement of who is going to be in the 2026 class for the Pro Football Hall of Fame is set to come out next week, but it appears that one significant name will be left out of the class.\u00a0 ESPN&#8217;s Don Van Natta and Seth Wickersham reported Tuesday evening that former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, on the ballot for the first time, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/story?id=47747076&amp;_slug_=belichick-not-first-ballot-hall-famer\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">did not receive the required 40 out of 50<\/a> votes to be elected.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Filed to ESPN: EXCLUSIVE: Bill Belichick is NOT a first-ballot Hall of Famer.<\/p>\n<p>The six-time Super Bowl winning head coach failed to get 40 of 50 HOF votes, sources say.<\/p>\n<p>With <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SethWickersham?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@SethWickersham<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/qWtUwJXEgj\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/qWtUwJXEgj<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Don Van Natta Jr. (@DVNJr) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DVNJr\/status\/2016272727427187116?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 27, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Belichick (in case you needed to be reminded) is third all-time in regular season wins as a head coach with 302, and is the leader in playoff victories with 31.\u00a0 He is also the all-time leader in Super Bowl appearances as a head coach (9), Super Bowl wins as a head coach (6), was named to the NFL&#8217;s all-decade team in the 2000s and 2010s, was voted NFL coach of the year by the Associated Press three times, and was part of the league&#8217;s 100th anniversary team.\u00a0 Needless to say, many in sports media took to social media to express their outrage.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There is not a single world whatsoever in which Bill Belichick should not be a First-Ballot Hall of Famer,&#8221; former Texans and Cardinals defensive ends and current CBS NFL anayst J.J. Watt said.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I can\u2019t be reading this right.<\/p>\n<p>This has to be some knock-off Hall of Fame or something, it can\u2019t be the actual NFL Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n<p>There is not a single world whatsoever in which Bill Belichick should not be a First-Ballot Hall of Famer. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/OXhL1Sd4FM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/OXhL1Sd4FM<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 JJ Watt (@JJWatt) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JJWatt\/status\/2016276953905398115?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 27, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Disrespect to Coach Belichick is straight out IGNORANT! He\u2019s arguably the BEST NFL COACH TO EVER COACH THE GAME,&#8221; Pro Football Hall of Famer, former NFL Network analyst, and current head coach at the University of Colorado Deion Sanders exclaimed.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The Disrespect to Coach Belichick is straight out IGNORANT! He\u2019s arguably the BEST NFL COACH TO EVER COACH THE GAME! How quickly we forget the impact Coach Belichick made on all of us! <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NFL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@nfl<\/a> WOW! <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/CoachPrime?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#CoachPrime<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 COACH PRIME (@DeionSanders) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DeionSanders\/status\/2016347927002669447?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 28, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Bill Belichick could have cussed out my momma and I would have voted for him for the HOF,&#8221; former ESPN anchor and reporter Jemele Hill noted.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Bill Belichick could have cussed out my momma and I would have voted for him for the HOF. A bad look for the entire committee.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jemelehill\/status\/2016316014946889800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 28, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;If Bill Belichick isn\u2019t a 1st Ballot Hall of Famer then no coach is! I\u2019ve seen some ridiculous arguments made for players and coaches to be Hall of Famers but this one should have been a no brainer,&#8221; ESPN analyst Ryan Clark said.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">If Bill Belichick isn\u2019t a 1st Ballot Hall of Famer then no coach is! I\u2019ve seen some ridiculous arguments made for players and coaches to be Hall of Famers but this one should have been a no brainer. This level of pettiness and incompetence is extremely sad. No one reveres the\u2026 <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/36jypxx0Hj\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/36jypxx0Hj<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Realrclark25\/status\/2016332761502540024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 28, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Belichick was the best NFL coach ever yesterday and that\u2019s still true today and tomorrow,&#8221; <em>The Ringer<\/em> founder Bill Simmons said.\u00a0 &#8220;The truth is \u2014 sports Hall of Fames don\u2019t matter nearly as much anymore because we\u2019ve screwed all of them up.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Belichick was the best NFL coach ever yesterday and that\u2019s still true today and tomorrow.<\/p>\n<p>The truth is \u2014 sports Hall of Fames don\u2019t matter nearly as much anymore because we\u2019ve screwed all of them up.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BillSimmons\/status\/2016339014002081898?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 28, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The announcement of who is going to be in the 2026 class for the Pro Football Hall of Fame is set to come out next week, but it appears that one significant name will be left out of the class.\u00a0 ESPN&#8217;s Don Van Natta and Seth Wickersham reported Tuesday evening that former New England Patriots [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5660,"featured_media":2164,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[264,238],"tags":[75,465],"class_list":["post-2163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-sports-media","tag-featured","tag-hall-of-fame"],"modified_by":"Steve Carney","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5660"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2163"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2168,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2163\/revisions\/2168"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}