The votes have been counted and yes, Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft were not voted into the 2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame class.
But QB Drew Brees, RB Roger Craig, WR Larry Fitzgerald, LB Luke Kuechly and K Adam Vinatieri did.
Craig was one of three finalists in the Senior/Coach/Contributor category. The others are modern-era candidates.
Other finalists who advanced to the final seven modern era candidates who, as part of the Hall of Fame’s new voting process, automatically advance to the finalist stage for the 2027 class are T Willie Anderson, Edge Terrell Suggs and G Marshal Yanda.
The selection process, which combines coaches, contributors and senior candidates, has drawn controversy this year due to the exclusion of Belichick and Kraft, who were seen by many as shoe-in candidates.
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My thoughts
I got 3/4
I expected a class of 8 instead we got a class of 5
This is slightly better than last year
Once again I knew this new process wouldn’t work
If only if Deion Sanders have kept quiet about the Pro Football Hall of Fame
I’m glad Roger Craig finally made it
With the election of Roger Craig 23 of the 38 Centennial Class finalists or 60 percent of the finalists
I’m surprised Adam Vinatieri made it in just his second year but still I’m happy for him
I’m going to have to revise my statement when Tom Brady is announced as a first ballot Hall of Famer at NFL Honors in 2028
You can now join your boyhood hero your owner your head coach your tight end and your kicker
I’m shocked Ken Anderson and LC Greenwood didn’t make it
I can’t believe Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft didn’t make it
Once again it’s official the changes were a mistake you don’t treat people like this
If this does not result in change to the voting process I don’t what does
I thought this would help Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft but boy was I wrong and it is so abundantly clear that this is not going to work it’s been clear for awhile for me but now everyone including the voters are coming around there are no excuses why the Pro Football Hall of Fame should change the process
On the bright side at least we’ll have a fast induction ceremony like last year
I think there’s a lesson to be learned from this and that is when changing a voting process always consult with the voters
Jim Porter and the board have the power to fix this and they most certainly should
Good predictions from Paul and good leakage speculation from Justin.
The first HOF, Patriot domino has fallen with Vinatieri and it wont stop until possibly 2029, and we will find out if Wilfork gets his chance for election as well?
Frank Cooney was bemoaning the state of recentism in HOF voting but whether the voting system changes or not, new candidates will continue to push older, deserving candidates back and with the backlash over Belichick not joining two first year ballot electees, its doubtful any writers will push for a reduction in first-ballot eligibles.
We ALL knew that a wave of great players were, and still are, coming up for elections and unfortunately, players that were in a longer queue, may not find relief in sight. It is though encouraging when offensive linemen can advance farther than other receivers on this recent, voted class …
Andy can we please move on from deion Sanders it’s getting stale and repetitive for the last time he was talking about modern era candidates not senior candidates
Considering the new rules great class.
We got 4 moderns instead of 3 (which I thought was going to happen.
Craig should have made it decades ago (fine with belichick waiting if it means Craig made it.)
Always great when a kicker gets in.
2 first ballot no brainers
Only one I didnt want was luke (wanted to break the wr log jam)
Best thing is the backlash against belichick and kraft might force changes to this broken process.
The 5 moderns, 3 seniors, a contributor and a coach model was the right move. They just wasted it on voting down parker and powell while voting for mcmichael.
Besides if parker is turner down belichick can wait.
Robert I’m sorry I can’t help it
Robert- I agree with Andy, and Deion was talking about all the entire Hall of fame and how it is watered down. So many players are being bypassed which just keeps the backlog long in both the Senior and Modern Ques. Congrats to those who did make it.
Was a very good class, 5 is improvement from 4 but hall needs to rethink process and I suspect they will but more sure to get direct non-compete path to election for senior coach and contribute but still aim to cap class at perhaps 6?
At least with this thread, we dont have a scornful Belichick staring us in the face when we visit this site
… haha
Personally I will never forgive and forget (nor fail to mention) that Deion pressed hall to change rules to push class size down from 7+ to 4 or 5 which is costing deserving candidates from not being elected and in doing so Hall made rules to give seniors coaches and contributors to compete for slots which we see created even more controversy this election
Paul,
Do you see the HOF changing things again, after these last two very small classes?
It’s just not working. I could see 4 or 5 modern, 4 minimum. Plus, two Seniors.
Then combine the C and C categories and one per year. 6 to 7 per year. They have to do something I think, again it’s not working.
I think we will see a change but not when the creates possibility of 7+ classes size
So maybe 4 modern + 1 senior + 1 coach contributor
https://www.nfl.com/news/pro-football-hall-of-fame-to-consider-changes-after-bill-belichick-s-omission-sparks-outrage
Hall can’t get their head around getting deserving candidates in while keeping classes at 4 or 5 – so they blame voters for not getting deserving candidates in…If I was voter and hall went after me with that claim and my vote I would tell them to drop dead – force them to remove me, which is likely what hall is looking for – scapegoats
And yes let’s not talk about Deion anymore …. And yet here he is again today in an interview attacking the process and those elected. Advocating for him and his buddies to be the voters so guys who are their friends and buddies get in. Without a single regard for problems with the process and complete disrespect for the new plus current PFHOFers. Guy needs to piss off and go back to Colorado and work harder at winning more games than losing them
I’ll try not to talk about Deion Sanders anymore
If I was president of the Pro Football Hall of Fame which obviously I’m not here’s how I would change the voting process
Go back to the old voting process
Keep coaches and contributors separate
Make the senior coach and contributor categories separate again
Have more transparency
Make all votes public
Have a special election for pre 60s candidates with voters like Clark Judge and Rick Gosselin and historians like Bill Belichick Chris Willis John Turney and Ken Crippen
Let the public view the meetings but without comments
Brian good one
Bill thank you for agreeing with me
You know the old saying if it ain’t broke don’t fix it Jim Porter and the board should have taken that to heart
Ill leave this here https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/47853216/hall-fame-eyes-changes-return-person-voting
Porter has turned into a complete jerk
His treatment of voters and unwillingness to admit process is part of problem is insulting and disgusting. Chatted with a few voters last night and they were shocked and disappointed he would he would take that approach and tone with them. Terrible look and won’t solve dilemma when small classes are norm, deserving candidates especially seniors coaches and contributors are not elected. Hoping Hall takes massive financial bath at August enshrinement week events with far less attendance.
Oh yea and f@&$ Deion
Correct me if I’m wrong, but all this mess started with complaints about HOF membership not being exclusive enough and large classes making the ceremony last too long. As for as the exclusitivity part, I couldn’t have said it better myself Paul: F#%$ Deion!!! As for as the classes being too large (8 or 9) or too small (4 or 5), try meeting somewhere in the middle. For moderns, narrow it down to seven and the top four and anyone else over 80 percent are elected. As for seniors and coaches/contribu-tors, rotate every year with two seniors one year and one senior and one c/c the next. A straight up yes or no vote for each with 80 percent required. This would give you a class of at least four, but maybe five moderns and hopefully two seniors or one senior and one c/c every year. A class of six or seven each year. Over a five year period, you’d be electing 20-25 moderns, hopefjlly 7-8 seniors and 2-3 c/c’s. Then at the induction ceremony, set a 20 minute time limit for speeches and ENFORCE it! That would be a two or two and a half hour ceremony, although I personally don’t mind the long speeches. One last thing, the HOF needs to fire Jim Porter’s sorry a$$ and find a new president!
What ultimately matters to Hall Board is the financial viability of the Hall. We have seen huge increases in event ticket prices and marketing overpriced single annd multi day packages, adding more revenue generating events, space rentals, corporate sponsorships in effort to make more money. If small classes and election controversies drive attendance at enshrinement events down that might be what it takes for Porter to be forced out.
I hope this puts to bed that Ken Anderson was a HOF QB. :)
RT Willie Anderson, a five time finalist is sure getting a lot of love. I wish his teammate Corey Dillon would get some. :) Is Anderson going to be like Bob Kuechenberg who was a finalist eight times before the door was closed? It feels like a waste at this point.
Fair comments about Porter but he also told the voters to vote for the most DESERVING candidates, and yet Parker, Tyrer and Belichick still didnt get elected. I can understand Gates and Witten having to wait but they were still more deserving than Freeney, Hester, A Johnson, E Allen or Vinatieri, so the Hall could still be reasonable at 6-7 members rather than the 8-9 which Porter felt was too many.
Vinny was the all-time leading scorer and I can understand the HOF voters wanting to get him elected before the heavyweights came up from 2027-2031 but nobody felt he would get in before Belichick? At least a senior got in.
You are probably right, TonyP, but Anderson has gone through the senior process so long, like Greenwood in the modern process that you have to feel for those guys?
Can they get re-nominated next year? Or will Belichick kill all chances at another senior getting elected?
Nothing stopping the BRP from re-nominating the same finalists in fact I fully expect both Belichick and Kraft as finalists again next year. No idea what senior BRP will do (assuming here no real changes to process in terms of balloting and categories
And I think voters are given wide range of freedom by hall to make their own opinion as to best candidates but at least one voter wrote column in which he stated his decision to select the three seniors and not Belichick or Kraft as they had waited longer and needed to get in, not because they were best three on that ballot of five. That folks is looking to be interpreted by hall as violation of rules and directives to voters by the hall and could result in his removal as hall also clearly looking to make some scapegoats here.
I thought Jim Porter was the savior in reality he’s the devil
I’d be a better president than him
This makes me miss David Baker
Paul what did you think of how I would change the voting process if I were president of the Pro Football Hall of Fame which obviously I’m not
When was the last SB lacking buzz (likely because no superstars were playing) ? Plus two teams far down list of those favored at start of season? (Tied for 19th lowest odds)…2000 Rams vs Titans ?? And first one in a while without an already definitive future PFHOFer
Apparently Porter also said in interview this weekend they will consider reducing total number of voters, add historians and former GMs, reduce # of modern finalists (not sure what that solves?) guess looking at bunch of different changes -will be interesting to see what is actually implemented
Youre right Paul but at least the Seahawks won ten games last year so they capped a great year. The fluke season finally ended for NE but what a story … Bad week for Kraft …
Paul did you see my comment about how I would change the voting process
I think those are all good ideas
and its time for me to step aside for a sabbatical until August (unless we get any new surprise announcement from Hall), as next several months are typically quiet in regards to any election news as Hall shifts its focus to promoting the 2026 enshrinement events.
Porter was at the SB this week and was interviewed, hence we got his attempts to explain the mess, focus blame on the voters, and tossed out all kinds of possible fixes. But like previous years, not much more will be known about any final decisions until the Hall Board has its annual meeting in early August (just like we were not informed about rule changes in 2024 until late August, after the enshrinement and just as next election cycle started). Even the voters were not informed about that news in advance
One change I am certain is coming is change to the slate of 50 member selection committee (voters) but also remember there are changes every year due to departures and retirements, yet Hall announces nothing..guessing if they decide to make any of those changes it will be quietly-unless a voter decides to reveal. Or if Hall truly decides to reduce # of voters or appoint historians-again those are just among the many ideas he threw out, we have no idea what results actually will be in regards to changes to the voters or process. And I think back to August 2024 after the Board meeting when Peter King resigned (later appointed as non-voter to BRP)..we heard nothing from him, the Hall or other voters.
I am anticipating the same this year, even with all the debate and discussions regarding the last election, there really is no needs for Hall to discuss or put out press releases, and guessing very little interest in more public comments until that August Board meeting.
Thanks again all, as always and enjoy the discussions, debates and ideas–see you on the other side.
ps our prediction this year was pretty much a bust as three of us tied with 3 correct productions, reflecting the mess with the contributors, none of us thinking Craig would make it and continued outcome of a smaller class
Paul why are you taking a sabbatical we’ll miss you here
I figured voters would want to put in Drew Brees before Jahri Evans
andy ill be on here from time to time contributing any thought that crosses my mind in terms of seniors and etc, wasnt on the last couple of days dealing with a bad cold and had to rest a ton but now at full strength ill be contributing some thoughts here and there
Robert ok see you then hope you get better soon
Thanks andy are you going to try to nominate murchison as a contributor again
Any thoughts on who the most deserving next three Seniors for the HOF should be??
QUARTERBACKS (3): Ken Anderson, Charlie Conerly, Roman Gabriel.
RUNNING BACKS (3) Chuck Foreman, Cecil Isbell, Paul “Tank” Younger.
WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS (7): Isaac Curtis, Lavvie Dilweg, Henry Ellard, Harold Jackson, Stanley Morgan, Art Powell, Otis Taylor.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (5): Joe Jacoby, Mike Kenn, Bob Kuechenberg, Jim Tyrer, Al Wistert.
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN (2): L.C. Greenwood, Jim Marshall.
LINEBACKERS (6): Carl Banks, Maxie Baughan, Larry Grantham, Lee Roy Jordan, Clay Matthews Jr., Tommy Nobis.
DEFENSIVE BACKS (6): Dick Anderson, Bobby Boyd, Albert Lewis, Eddie Meador, Lemar Parrish, Everson Walls.
SPECIAL TEAMS (1): Steve Tasker.
Robert I sure am I won’t rest until Clint Murchison gets into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Tony p that’s a tough one almost all of them are worthy except for Carl Banks and Steve Tasker
my three would be as follows: Joe Jacoby Bob Kuechenberg Al Wistert
Just time for a break (with no major news expected for months)
oh and as to our contest if we look at results in terms of % correct…Brian and I led with 60% (3/5) while Marie was 43% and TonyP 38%…those are the only entries I captured by Jan 31st deadline and news blew up about BillB and Kraft not in….
and one suggestion in terms of folks with a top seniors list… may wish to consider adding recent moderns who are now seniors- SteveWis, Leslie O’Neil, Neil Smith,Ricky Waters
My 3 are players I think that would be popular choices within the NFL community: Joe Jacoby, Clay Matthews Jr. and Henry Ellard.
Tony p those are three names I could easily get behind 100% excellent choices
BTW Tony P thanks for changing my opinion on Anderson and Greenwood I was for them before but after you gave your reasons why your against them you convinced me
class of 2027 senior predictions (not as my favorites, but whom I think BRP will select)
Henry Ellard, Joe Jacoby, Albert Lewis
With Craig voted in, could make it easier for Watters and Gore in the future, though Gore is a great example of longevity.
There are many players more deserving than Anderson or Greenwood but I wouldnt have any problem with them be elected. Wiz and Watters, maybe N Smith as well, will make noise next year.
I hope Jim Porter is sitting in his office or house seeing all this and saying to himself my god what have I done
I hope Jim Porter is sitting in his office or house seeing all this and thinking to himself my god what have I done
andy you have a very very creepy obession with jim porter its getting rather old and repetitve
Robert I’m sorry that was not my intent I’m just expressing how I feel I should have posted it only once I realized I should have written it better when I posted it the first time that’s why posted I posted it the second time that’s so hard to read what you said about me I care about the Pro Football Hall of Fame you care about the Pro Football Hall of Fame we all care about the Pro Football Hall of Fame I’ve loved coming here everyday and sharing my opinions and thoughts about the Pro Football Hall of Fame an getting to know you guys I guess I have a love hate thing with Jim Porter and the Pro Football Hall of Fame I don’t think Jim Porter’s a bad guy he’s a great guy and a great president it’s just I don’t like some of the rule changes he made to the voting process if you don’t want me to post here anymore that’s fine just let me know
Porter works for and answers to the Hall Board, unless the board responds to the bad PR this election has created (and they might) there is little hope for change coming independently from Porter out of some sense of responsibility and blame-for a problem he created with a process he knew which meant smaller classes and that outcome would leave out deserving candidates-little did he know voters would leave out BillB and Kraft. So now his response, if any, will be to appease his bosses and not out of any moral obligations. Pretty sure if he is losing sleep at night it is not the results or those left out, but how he can be more proactive to save his job, which appears mostly to toss some voters under the bus and move on without them
We just have to move on and hope changes can be for the better for 2027.
Comments and discussions are welcomed for all on here, but we can get frustrated and perturbed as well. I mean, we have had three HCs and five senior candidates get rejected in just three years, after we all felt the voters would elect the choices from the three committees.
Two owners were rejected as well, when I felt Kraft would get election for years. It really doesnt seem like he will get elected anytime soon and maybe they do away with the contributor committee? Could Gronk, Brady, and Belichick all be voted in before himself? By that time Wilfork and Harrison could gain momentum as well?
Unless we see 6-7 member classes, it looks like receivers in the queue like Holt, Wayne, Smith Sr, and Ward may never get elected? Antonio Brown is coming up for 2027 but we know he will have to wait and Julio Jones is coming up in 2029, I think? Its doubtful either will go first ballot.
Ben Roethlisberger has a better winning pct as a starting QB than Aaron Rodgers, but I dont feel he will be elected in 2027 as well.
My early, later-revised prediction will be Peterson, Gronk, Woodson, Anderson and Belichick. Hopefully a senior breaks through as well?
https://www.profootballhof.com/visit/hof-board-of-directors/
Here’s who on the board
Brian I hope changes come did you see what changes I would make if I was president of the Pro Football Hall of Fame which obviously I’m not
Paul correct me if I’m wrong this has to be got to be the most attention the Pro Football Hall of Fame has ever received
I think so – of course really amplified due to social media. Bill Walsh retired with slot on Mt Rushmore of NFL coaches but wasn’t first ballot elected. But few voters were writing about Hall stuff and although behind the scenes and from SF media and fans there was outrage but no means to turn it into a national story
thoughts and ideas from current voter Clark Judge
https://readjack.wordpress.com/2026/02/13/pro-football-hall-of-fame-voter-clark-judge-proposes-a-fix-for-canton/
I did a deep dive several years ago on RB’s. I came to the conclusion 1977-1986 was the golden age for RB’s. There were soooo many great ones. I would love for Billy Sims to be a HOFer but not likely. I just remember the Heisman winner hitting the League with such flair. Pretty awesome on the heels of Earl Campbell the year before.
William Andrews name popped up again for me. Has anyone heard if there’s momentum behind him? I saw there was some for O.J. Anderson. I support him. He really did have a storybook ending for a RB who suffered major injury.
I’m not trying to necessarily change minds but thanks for acknowledgement Robert. :)
Paul what do you think of Clark Judge’s ideas
They aren’t terrible (full disclosure I know him as we have chatted) but my preference would be go to minimums of 4 modern, 1 senior and 1 contributor/coach (alternate years) still require 80% up/down vote but history shows most would get elected
Ps appears I am already failing my sabbatical from here LOL
Question for the group going forward how many seniors would you like to be nominated for the pro football hall of fame looking for a number between 1 and 4
3
Robert did you see my apology
Yes i did andy were all good all around
Robert thanks
In an ideal world direct path to election, non competing (80% yes/no vote) I would say 2 seniors per year-as was case for many years in 2000s.
And with his release, and long term recovery from injury, will interesting to see where Tyreek Hill ends up and what rest of his career could look like…guessing his peak career is past but the 3x first team all pro (as WR), all decade, SB win likely positions him well for eventual election
Ok enough badmouthing Jim Porter one think I like that he’s done is having Hall of Famer do the knock
Paul I believe Cheetah goes back to KC … after any possible suspension
Could be where he ends up-but that’s a pretty serious injury which could also keep him off the field a good portion of 2026 seasons and cause many teams including Chiefs to pause before making any contract commitment. He may or may not return for 2026 or future, by likely his Hall resume is already set and unlikely to change (and its a pretty good one for eventual future election)
I can’t believe the process to elect both Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft failed to elect them both
While the Class of 2026 is going to be remembered for who got in it’s also going to be remembered for who didn’t get in
Perhaps but over time after they are both elected it will fade into a historic footnote
Paul I hope so hopefully they both get elected before Tom Brady gets elected in 2028
hard to say..a lot could depend if the Hall modifies the process for 2026..I don’t think any change will make it harder for BillB to be a finalist and elected next year as that is very likely, not as sure for Kraft
Paul I hope they modify the process and not as sure for Kraft why
A couple surprises from Clark Judge’s article on the Class of 2026
I can’t believe Bill Belichick had the longest discussion he was a slam dunk I thought Ron Borges would just get up and say Bill Belichick and that would be it just like he’ll do with Tom Brady in 2028
I’m surprised the discussions for Drew Brees and Larry Fitzgerald went longer their accomplishments speak for themselves
What we now understand from the public comments of voters, is that Spygate was a major issue raised during the discussion after his presentation… In terms of Brees and Fitz, I don’t think continued conversations after their presentations, reflects anything more than a though discussion among 50 voters, a healthy and productive part of this election process-and compared to every other major sports HOF, a very good part of it.
from Clark Judge (and these include the max 5 minute presentations)
SENIORS, COACH and CONTRIBUTORS
ROBERT KRAFT … 17:05.
L.C. GREENWOOD … 14:22.
ROGER CRAIG … 32:43.
BILL BELICHICK … 45:36.
KEN ANDERSON … 21:07.
(BREAK)
MODERN ERA
MARSHAL YANDA … 9:06.
JAHRI EVANS … 9:22.
WILLIE ANDERSON … 16:45.
FRANK GORE … 13:00.
REGGIE WAYNE … 9:36.
TORRY HOLT … 19:08.
LARRY FITZGERALD … 20:47.
ELI MANNING … 35:53.
DREW BREES … 16:34.
DARREN WOODSON … 25:27.
JASON WITTEN … 10:44.
KEVIN WILLIAMS … 9:55.
TERRELL SUGGS … 6:37.
LUKE KUECHLY … 10:02.
ADAM VINATIERI … 18:40.
as just one example of how total length of time (present/discussion) is not always very meaningful, Yanda and Evans had the same, yet one is in final 7 and other didn’t advance from 11-15 slot.
The Ravens have this on their website about the Hall of Fame cases for Terrell Suggs and Marshal Yanda
https://www.baltimoreravens.com/fans/hall-of-fame/
Amazing that both ended up already at the final 7 stage (class of 2026) not elected but thus are automatic finalists for class of 2027-not sure they get elected next year but clearly from those returning from 2026 ballot they have strong support from the voters..of the two I think Suggs could make that class of 2027 as all the top 1st ballot are on offense (Gronk/AP/BenR)
You want to know an interesting fact if and when Terrell Suggs gets in he’ll be the first Raven in the Pro Football Hall of Fame who never made an All Decade Team
I’m surprised no one has written a story about Clint Murchison not being in the Pro Football Hall of Fame it would make a great story
Andy I suspect its only because he has no strong advocate among the media and more importantly the voters-especially those who are journalists.
In terms of Dallas media reps as voters, Rick Gosselin is retired (occasionally posts Hall related stories on his blog), Calvin Watkins with Dallas Morning News is an at large voter-but have not seem him write much about candidates, and Charean Williams, Pro Football Talk actively writes about Cowboys and occasionally about Hall but not much in terms of advocating. And none of them served on BRP this last election cycle.
So in summary, Dallas candidates (especially pre 2000s) except for D Woodson are not well represented in terms of active media who would promote them widely and to voters and the BRPs members or who might have interest in, research and write about NFL history.
If you would someone to press his case, starting with writing and posting a case for Murchison, I would start with contacting Gosselin
opps looks like Gosselin did make a case for him
https://rickgosselin.com/state-your-case-clint-murchison/
Paul I’ve emailed Rick Gosselin a lot of times about Clint Murchison
I just started a Facebook group called Clint Murchison for Pro Football Hall of Fame
In addition to the process the Pro Football Hall of Fame has to fix how they run their website because it is really out of date
Yea it’s a mess and another example of how poor their PR and marketing often is
im just wondering andy why are we obessing over friviolous things like websites
Robert simple we need the website up to date but you’re right I do obsess over frivolous things but I can’t help it just know I’m not the only one
Its because if complete, organized and presented in high quality, the Hall website could be a wonderful wealth of information on elections, voting process, the PFHOFers and history of the game-but it falls short on all counts, to great frustration of many
Paul well said
Btw andy i cant find your group on facebook i want to join but cant find it
Robert I deleted it because I couldn’t edit the name but I’ll start it back up I’ll let you know when it’s back also I thought you quit Facebook
I started it up again so you should find it now
Is the petition for Clint Murchison the same one as last years or is a different petition Andy Id Like to know before i share it ,btw i joined the group
for me the whole contributors list of contenders is on hold, until Kraft is elected..could be soon as 2027 or depending on any rule changes could be longer…and frankly I have no idea (besides looking at last two elections of the 9 contributor semifinalists) who would be next in line…again no idea if this impact might start with 2027 election but if Hall continues to insist on small classes, and given the number of voters stating there are far more deserving coaches on ballot than contributors, I could see Hall soon moving to combining both into one category with just one finalist a year (or alternate one every other election)
Thats what im thinking Paul wouldnt it save time if they just combined coaches and contributors into one category
Robert I have a link to the petition in the first post
Paul I guess I wouldn’t have a problem with that I wouldn’t mind if Bill Belichick went in with Tom Brady but we’ll just see what happens
Pretty certain even regardless of rules, Belichick will be in class of 2027
Paul we’ll just see what happens
The widespread outrage among media, fans, the Hall and even many voters suggests to me his elected next year (and my sense is that anger from the Hall goes very deep)
Most likely Paul Belichick will get elected next year the question is do they try kraft again as contributor or go with someone else
Paul I hope so
Robert I think they try Kraft again because he’s the most popular contributor finalist
I’m also on PFRA under the name PFHOFlover
if Hall stays with one coach and one contributor finalists-you can be certain Bill and Kraft will again be those finalists. I don’t think many are aware of the depth of anger, frustration and embarrassment the Hall and many voters feel about their exclusion. They will be elected
Paul I hope so and that depends if the process changes again
heres a question for the group should a contributor be retired like players and coaches
Robert no what makes you think that
owners typically do not retire plus other contributors oftern work well into their 70s-so no lets no make retirement a requirement so they may only get elected after passing away
frankly (as I have expressed in past) my view on contributors-shared by many historians and voters is that the pool of deserving candidates is very small, certainly less than seniors and coaches, they should have direct path to be considered,get a up/down 80% vote from the selection committee..but even after the next 3-4 elected its not a very deep pool, certainly not to degree that system needs to be redesigned to accommodate them.. seniors and coaches are the bigger concern in terms of candidates deserving consideration
Paul I guess I can agree with that but there’s some worthy contributors in that pool like Robert Kraft Clint Murchison etc
never said there were no worthy contributors, just that the list is small and less than the number of deserving coaches and seniors
If I were to keep my want lists to the smallest most reasonable numbers (not everyone but the smaller highest valued candidates) in my opinion they would look like this. And I know everyone has different list but if you were forced to list say just 15 total combined what would it look like and only 15 as it would compare to mine where I feel that is the top #?
Seniors (10): Baughan, Meador, KAnderson, BKuechenberg, ALewis, Nobis, Jacoby SWisniewski, Greenwood, LHayes *note did not include pre 1960 super seniors
Coaches (5): Belichick,Parker,Shanahan,Coughlin,Holmgren
Contributors (5): Hay,Kraft,Kilroy,Shaghnessy,Wooten
And so yes maybe a few more coaches and contributors, but not many, and still less than seniors
This is what Robert Kraft said about the negative reaction to the Dynasty
I loved the first three episodes I felt bad there was so much more emphasis on the more controversial and let’s say more challenging situations over the last 20 years I wish they had focused more on our Super Bowl wins our 21 game win streak I felt bad there were players who gave hours and hours of interviews and they felt only the negativity people like Devin McCourtney and Rodney Harrison and Matthew Slater although I’ve just heard quietly that they’ve all felt that way actually there was some really prominent people who were interview for hours that were never used so a little disappointed there wasn’t more of a real positive approach especially for Patriots fans who have lived the experience with us