As soon as Bill Belichick scanned the Caller ID flashing across his screen, his eyes lit up. But, barely two minutes later, the coach crash landed to reality, a first-ballot Hame of Fame spot a distant dream. Puzzled and shocked over the supposed snub, while Belichick kept wondering what went wrong, ESPN leveled a serious allegation mentioning personal enmity from a past rival. As expected, the Pro Football Hall of Fame didn’t take it lightly.

“Each year, the Hall reviews the selection process and the composition of the 50-person Selection Committee,” the Hall of Fame wrote in a statement slated for immediate release on January 28. “If it is determined that any member(s) violated the selection proces by laws, they understand action will be taken. That could include the possibility that such selector(s) would not remain a member of the committee moving forward. The selection of a new class is the most important duty the Hall of Fame oversees each year, and the integrity of that process cannot be in question. “

Well, the questions had already been raised aplenty as former Indianapolis Colts general manager and current HoF selection committee member, Bill Polian, found himself in one of the biggest controversies of his career.

A report from ESPN  on January 27 detailed the circumstances around Belichick’s snub. An anonymous voter recalled Polian telling his fellow voters how Belichick should “wait a year” before induction. Reason? The 2007 Spygate controversy, often referred to as “Belichick’s baby”, where the New England Patriots stole opponents’ signs, including that of primary target and AFC rivals, the Indianapolis Colts.

“The only explanation for the outcome was the cheating stuff,” a veteran Hall voter told ESPN. “It really bothered some of the guys.”

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And it didn’t just bother committee members. Belichick was also left short for words.

“Six Super Bowls isn’t enough?” the former NFL head coach reportedly asked one of his associates. “What does a guy have to do?”

Just hours after the claims surfaced, Bill Polian denied having any role in the 2026 snub. Even more, he pushed back hard by saying he actually supported Belichick’s case.

“I voted for coach Belichick in the Hall of Fame selection meeting,” Polian said as part of a statement he read on Sirius XM Radio. “The Pro Football Hall of Fame has confirmed that fact through the auditors of the selection process. Again, I’ll state that I never said that I believe that coach Belichick should ‘wait a year’ for enshrinement. This has been confirmed by the Pro Football Hall of Fame, numerous selectors who were in the room, and my vote for coach Belichick.”

Yet, what fueled suspicions were Polian admitting that he could not remember his vote with full certainty, saying he was about 95 percent sure he voted for the coach and a player, “most likely” Pittsburgh Steelers DE, LC Greenwood. As a result, the backlash toward Hall voters has grown louder by the day, especially online. And it’s fully understandable why.

It doesn’t take a genius to connect the dots back to the intense animosity between Polian and Belichick. At the helm of their respective teams together from the late 1990s to the early 2010s, their rivalry reached a boiling point in the 2003 AFC Championship game when Tom Brady’s team forced Peyton Manning to throw four interceptions in a 24-14 loss. However, the game was marred by officiating controversies, including failure to call instances of illegal contact and defensive holding penalties by the Patriots’ secondary against the Colts’ receivers.

In light of this and other repeated losses to the Patriots, Polian and then-Los Angeles Rams coach Mike Martz pushed for a rule change, the ‘Ty Law’ rule, that limited defensive back contact with receivers. Spoiler alert: It hardly made a difference.

In the 2004 Divisional Round, the Colts lost to the Patriots again, this time a 20-3 loss in Foxborough. In fact, from 1998 to 2011 (the Polian era), Belichick went 11-6 and 2-1 in the regular season and post-season, respectively, against the Colts.

Looks like that same decade-old rivalry has come back to haunt Belichick in some capacity. Though the HoF strongly disagrees.

Hall of Fame backs Bill Polian’s claims

As per the New York times, the Pro Football Hall of Fame didn’t waste any time in clearing up the controversy.

On Wednesday, they confirmed that Bill Polian actually voted to induct Bill Belichick. In fact, a spokesperson even said that Polian did not even speak “during the discussion around Belichick’s candidacy or bring up the former coach’s cheating scandals. The spokesperson also said the independent auditing firm that conducts balloting confirmed Polian’s vote for Belichick”.

Then, on Friday evening, Kansas City Star’s Vahe Gregorian officially confirmed he did not vote for the former New England Patriots’ star/

“It’s hard to imagine a more accomplished candidate for the Pro Football Hall of Fame,” the journalist wrote. “His profile is such that you could make his case among Hall of Fame voters simply by saying his name. Certainly, it can reasonably be wondered what the meaning of a Hall of Fame that doesn’t ultimately elect him is.”

In simple words: Down to choose between Belichick, Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Greenwood, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson, and San Francisco 49ers running back Roger Craig, Gregorian chose the three players.