At least 11 people reportedly chose not to vote Bill Belichick into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot. One of those voters went public Wednesday to explain why.
Vahe Gregorian, a columnist for The Kansas City Star, wrote that his decision not to cast a vote for the six-time Super Bowl champion head coach had nothing to do with Spygate, Deflategate or any other controversy. He instead gave his maximum allotment of votes to decades-old players who “have been long deserving of induction”: running back Roger Craig, linebacker L.C. Greenwood and quarterback Ken Anderson. He thereby had to “snub” Belichick and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
Belichick, like each of the 20 finalists, had to receive at least 40 votes (80 percent) to be voted into the Hall. Voters had two groups to evaluate: 15 modern-era players and five in a seniors category, which included Belichick, Kraft, Craig, Greenwood and Anderson. Voters could choose up to five modern-era players and one to three senior candidates.
Gregorian wrote that there is an “overwhelming” backlog of players who have not been enshrined, including “approximately 60 one-time all-decade players,” the vast majority of whom might never come up in the annual five-person seniors category.
Gregorian mentioned three Kansas City Chiefs legends whom he “repeatedly advocated” for — cornerback Albert Lewis, wide receiver Otis Taylor and offensive lineman Jim Tyrer — who are not yet in the Hall. Lewis and Tyrer previously appeared as senior candidates but did not get enough votes.
“Each of those men, in my opinion, unequivocally belongs in Canton — among dozens of at least semi-similarly decorated players who have been relegated to what PFHOF voters have come to call the ‘abyss’ of senior candidates,” Gregorian wrote.
Gregorian also pointed out that three of the six senior candidates who missed out on Canton in the past two years did not reappear among the following year’s finalists. The implication? A candidate might only get one shot to be voted in from the senior category.
“All of that went into why I felt duty-bound to vote for the richly deserving seniors, who most likely won’t ever have a hearing again as more senior candidates enter the pool and fresh cases get made for others,” Gregorian wrote.
The Star columnist said he initially figured he would vote for at least Craig and Belichick, but “as the presentations and discussions proceeded, I found myself wanting to vote for all five.”
Craig was a dual-threat back who helped the San Francisco 49ers win three Super Bowls. Greenwood was part of the “Steel Curtain” that backboned four Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl titles. Anderson was the NFL MVP in 1981, the season he led the Cincinnati Bengals to a Super Bowl appearance, and he led the league in passer rating four times.
“All three have been long deserving of induction in the Hall,” Gregorian wrote. “All three have been, well, snubbed for decades. As it came time to cast the vote, I found myself thinking not just of them but of the experiences of recent senior semifinalists and finalists who didn’t make it.
“I felt more compelled by what I perceive to be last chances and looming lost causes within the system as we have it — a system I hope the Hall will see fit to change now.”
As for Belichick, Gregorian said he “is inevitable soon … as he should be. At the risk of contradicting my own vote, really, he shouldn’t even have to wait.”