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One voter explains why he didn’t pick Bill Belichick for Hall of Fame
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- One voter explains why he didn’t pick Bill Belichick for Hall of Fame
Vahe Gregorian did not vote Bill Belichick into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but it wasn’t because of Spygate or Deflategate.
The Kansas City Star columnist became the first — and so far only — person to admit that they did not vote the legendary former New England Patriot coach into the Hall of Fame on his first ballot.
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Gregorian also did not select Robert Kraft on his ballot.
“I can’t and won’t try to speak for others, and it’s a condition of being a voter to not divulge the deliberations,” Gregorian wrote. “But the so-called ‘cheating stuff’ is not at all the only possible explanation.
“Because it certainly didn’t influence my vote. In fact, I didn’t vote against Belichick or Kraft. I voted for the three senior candidates: Ken Anderson, Roger Craig and L.C. Greenwood.”
Voters could select three of the five people on the ballot. Gregorian said that he entered deliberations planning to vote for Belichick and Craig, and had an open mind about his third spot. That changed during the discussions, though, as he became more interested in voting in the trio of senior players.
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“All three have been long deserving of induction in the Hall. All three have been, well, snubbed for decades,” Gregorian wrote. “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.”
Ultimately, Gregorian pegged his decision on the voting system and the backlog of senior candidates who routinely fall off the ballot, with more entering the pool of candidates every season.
“Belichick is inevitable soon ... as he should be,” Gregorian wrote. “At the risk of contradicting my own vote, really, he shouldn’t even have to wait. I understand why people are offended that he isn’t going in the first moment he can. In the end, though, 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."
Belichick learned his fate Friday night and, since the news broke earlier this week, former players , analysts and Kraft have come out to disagree with the decision.
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In an ESPN report , it was revealed that one of the 50 voters — former Indianapolis Colts general manager Bill Polian — lobbied for voters to make Belichick “wait a year” as punishment for Spygate.
While Polian went on to deny the report in a conversation withSI’s Matt Verderame, he went on to tell ESPN’s Don Van Natta that he could not remember with 100-percent certainty that he did vote for Belichick.
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