Some big off-field NFL news happened on Tuesday: Bill Belichick will not be a first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer. The nine AFC titles and six Super Bowl championships from the former Patriots (and Browns) coach say that’s a laughable outcome. His snub from a 50-person committee caused quite a stir, with stars from Patrick Mahomes to LeBron James calling out the injustice. CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones has more here.
Of course, in watching the reactions, I couldn’t help but think about the Baseball Hall of Fame. Every single vote we hear about what a “joke” the process is. The Hall of Fame no longer has credibility! You’ve heard that one, right? Too many times to bother counting. Every single player where someone disagrees (whether he gets in the Hall or is left out) is seemingly a referendum on the voting process and the Hall itself.
It doesn’t have to be this way. We can agree to disagree on things without flying all the way to the extreme, because the Baseball Hall of Fame hasn’t done anything like this. Not when it comes to coaches/managers.
Joe McCarthy and his seven World Series titles got in the Hall of Fame in 1957, the first time he was on any ballot. Casey Stengel also won seven and got in the year after he was done managing. Connie Mack (five titles) got in 13 years before he finally stopped managing. If there’s anyone in modern times even close to Belichick, it’s Bruce Bochy (and he’s not really close) with four World Series titles. He will be a first-ballot Hall of Fame manager once he’s eligible.
More fascinating to me here, though, is our collective affinity for “first-ballot Hall of Famers.”
Does it actually matter that much in the grand scheme of things?
Obviously, right now I agree that Belichick not getting in the Hall of Fame is a total joke. See, I’m capable of doing that, too.
But let’s go like 50 years from now, on a trip to Canton, Ohio and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Belichick will be there. Will he really be a lesser Hall of Famer than those who made it in their first try?
I’ve been running through this in baseball for years. Once we are removed from the inductions and the proverbial dust settles, it doesn’t actually matter.
Let’s try this exercise. I’m a Cubs fan. In what ballot did the following players make the Hall of Fame?
- Ryne Sandberg
- Billy Williams
- Gabby Hartnettt
- Fergie Jenkins
- Ernie Banks
Banks was a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Thank God. Can you imagine if he was second?!? (Please note dripping sarcasm)
It took Ryno three tries. Same for Fergie. Do you think less of them as a Hall of Famers because they didn’t get in until the third ballot? If that’s the case, I’ve got bad news on Williams. He was a seventh-ballot Hall of Famer. Uh oh. Did they put his bust in the dungeon or something? I mean, seventh?
It’s a bit more difficult to navigate players who were active when the Hall of Fame first came about, but it took Harnett 13 different tries until he got in.
We could do this with any team. How about the Astros? Craig Biggio was a third-ballot guy while it took Jeff Bagwell seven attempts. Do they count less than first-ballot Hall of Famers like Kirby Puckett or Lou Brock or Willie Stargell?
The best point I can make here is that while the Belichick vote is an embarrassing outcome for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, it’s possible to rectify it very soon. Maybe they overhaul the voting process and make the ballots all public. There are always ways to improve a process in Hall of Fame voting.
Once it does get rectified, years down the line, this will be nothing but a footnote. The only thing that really matters is getting it right in the end. I can tell you from experience, because there is absolutely no one on Earth who sees “Ryne Sandberg, Hall of Famer” and scoffs with a, “yeah, but only third ballot.” If you need a specific here, Belichick is still going to be known as the greatest NFL coach ever. Being second-ballot selection doesn’t change that, even if it feels ridiculous right now.