Bill Belichick doesn’t seem to be too bothered by his Pro Football Hall of Fame snub, at least publicly.
The six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach and current North Carolina football head coach was all smiles on the recruiting trail Wednesday when he visited Mekai Brown, a four-star edge rush recruit from Connecticut.
Brown posted a photo of himself with a smiling Belichick during the coach’s visit to what appeared to be Greenwich Country Day School.
“Thank you Coach [Belichick] and [UNC general manager Michael Lombardi] for coming by today!!!” Brown wrote in a post on X with the photo.
News that Belichick was not voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on his first chance broke Tuesday night and stunned just about everyone in the sports world.
The decision has enraged everyone from those in the halls of power at the White House — President Donald Trump blasted Hall voters on social media — to those in the football world, where Hall of Famer Jimmy Johnson called those who didn’t vote for Belichick “ignorant, jealous, assh–es.”
According to ESPN, Belichick was “puzzled” and “disappointed” when he found out he fell short of being elected.
Belichick went 333-178, including the playoffs, during his NFL head coaching career, making him second behind only Don Shula in career wins.
He won six Super Bowl titles during his 24 seasons as head coach of the Patriots. His run in New England included 17 division titles and nine conference championships.
Belichick also won two Super Bowls as a defensive coordinator with the Giants under Bill Parcells.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who is also on the Hall of Fame ballot, said in a statement that Belichick’s body of work “speaks for itself.”
“He is the greatest coach of all time and he unequivocally deserves to be a unanimous first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer,” Kraft said as part of his statement.
Legendary quarterback Tom Brady, who won six of his seven Super Bowl titles playing for Belichick in New England, said during an appearance on Seattle Sports 710 AM that “I don’t understand” the snub.
“If he’s not a first-ballot Hall of Famer, there’s really no coach that should ever be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, which is completely ridiculous, because people deserve it, and he’s incredible,” Brady said.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
