“Has to be Some Knock-Off Hall of Fame”: JJ Watt, Patrick Mahomes Left Scratching Their Heads as Bill Belichick Gets Rejected from First-Ballot HOF

The Pro Football Hall of Fame delivered one of the most stunning decisions in its history this week, as Bill Belichick was not voted in as a first-ballot Hall of Famer despite owning the most accomplished résumé any NFL head coach has ever assembled.

Belichick, who won six Super Bowls as a head coach, eight total championships, and owns 333 career wins, including the playoffs, failed to receive the required 40 of 50 votes from the Hall’s selection committee in his first year of eligibility, a league source confirmed to The Athletic. The news was first reported by ESPN’s Seth Wickersham and Don Van Natta Jr.

The decision immediately sent shockwaves through the league, with current and former players openly questioning how a coach widely regarded as one of the greatest in the history of sports could fall short.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes struggled to process the news at all.

“Insane… don’t even understand how this could be possible.”

JJ Watt was even more blunt, suggesting the decision bordered on the absurd.

“This has to be some knock-off Hall of Fame or something; it can’t be the actual NFL Hall of Fame.”

I can’t be reading this right.

This has to be some knock-off Hall of Fame or something, it can’t be the actual NFL Hall of Fame.

There is not a single world whatsoever in which Bill Belichick should not be a First-Ballot Hall of Famer. https://t.co/OXhL1Sd4FM

— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) January 27, 2026

 

Belichick, 73, became eligible under newly adopted Hall of Fame rules that reduced the waiting period for coaches from five years to one. The change allowed Belichick, who left the NFL after the 2023 season and is now the head football coach at the University of North Carolina, to appear on the ballot immediately. But it may also have contributed to his omission.

As part of the revised process, Belichick was grouped with one contributor finalist and three senior player finalists, with voters instructed to select three candidates from that pool. Only those receiving at least 80 percent of the vote would be inducted, with a maximum of three possible selections.

Despite ranking second all-time in career wins, owning the most postseason victories by a head coach, and leading the most dominant dynasty the league has ever seen, Belichick did not clear that threshold.

While the Hall does not release vote totals, several factors may have played a role, including lingering resentment over the Patriots’ cheating scandals, resistance to the new eligibility rules, strategic vote allocation toward senior players, and the long-running debate over how much of New England’s success should be credited to Belichick versus Tom Brady.

Regardless of the rationale, the result remains jarring. Don Shula, the only coach with more career wins than Belichick, was inducted on the first ballot. Every modern coaching peer with comparable success has followed the same path.