Bill Polian denied he had anything to do with Bill Belichick not getting into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, despite a report that suggested otherwise.
The former Bills and Colts general manager is said to have told some voters that Belichick should have to “wait a year” before making it into the Hall as punishment for the 2007 Spygate scandal, ESPN reported.
However, Polian told Sports Illustrated’s Matt Verderame that it’s simply not the case, shooting down the notion that he had an influence on Belichick being snubbed.
“That’s totally and categorically untrue. I voted for him,” Polian told SI.
Belichick is without question one of the greatest coaches in NFL history and helped lead one of football’s greatest dynasties during his 24 years at the helm in New England, which included six Super Bowl championships, 17 division titles, nine conference championships and 266 regular-season wins.
Belichick is said to have been “puzzled” and “disappointed” by the news that he would not be enshrined in Canton, Ohio, this summer, ESPN reported.
Many have been quick to point out that Polian’s Colts teams struggled against the Patriots during the Belichick era and that Polian led a push for the charge in expanding defensive holding calls in the secondary, colloquially referred to as the “Ty Law Rule.” Polian ran the Colts from 1998-2011.
The ESPN report suggested that Spygate and Deflategate controversies led some voters to leave Belichick off their ballots.
The reaction to Polian’s alleged involvement in Belichick’s missing out on being voted in has not been kind to the former football executive.
Some have even called for Polian to lose his vote for the Hall of Fame going forward, as others have said that ballots should be made public following the Belichick snub.
While the shock that Belichick will not be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year is still fresh, it is expected that he will be enshrined in Canton in the near future.
