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By Cameron Kiszla
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The football world is welcoming five new members into the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, this weekend, but amid the celebrations, there's one person missing.
Former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, owner of six Super Bowl rings as a head coach and two more as an assistant, wasn't included in the class of 2026 alongside Drew Brees, Roger Craig, Larry Fitzgerald, Luke Kuechly and Adam Vinatieri.
It's an omission that had one prominent NFL analyst fuming.
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'Fix it! It's broken'
Speaking on Pro Football Talk live, Mike Florio took time to highlight Belichick's absence.
"Very, very strong class, but ... Where's Bill Belichick? I hope that it doesn't overshadow the guys who got in, but I hope it isn't forgotten, either, because it needs to be discussed," he said.
Belichick, who is facing challenges as the current head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels, nonetheless was surely deserving of a spot in Canton.
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His six rings as a head coach and eight overall are both records, yet he didn't get enough votes to be inducted, which Belichick believes is "politics," as reported by Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham of ESPN.
"With an NFL coaching record of 333-178, including playoffs -- career victories second only to Don Shula's 347 -- Belichick was considered by most fans and Hall voters to be a first-ballot lock," Van Natta and Wickersham wrote.
However, a pair of cheating scandals — Spygate and Deflategate — reportedly prompted some voters to decide to delay Belichick's enshrinement for at least a year.
Regardless of the cause, on Friday, Florio suggested major changes will be needed.
"You know, they still haven't made any changes to the voting rules that resulted in Belichick not making it," he said. "How can you not? They say 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it,' and implicit in that is if it is broke, fix it! It's broken. Whatever process leads to Bill Belichick not being a first-ballot Hall of Famer, that process is horribly flawed and needs to be fixed. Period."
It seems that Belichick will make it into the Hall of Fame eventually. Whether that selection process remains the same is yet to be seen.
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