Patriots legend says Hall of Fame needs to go back to drawing board in wake of Belichick snub

There’s been plenty of outrage expressed over Bill Belichick not getting into the Pro Football Hall of Fame his first year of eligibility.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft weighed in. So have former players, and many other NFL types, including the actual voters on the committee.

Former Patriot great Vince Wilfork, who considers Belichick’s omission the “snub of the century” couldn’t help but speak up.

“That’s a personal attack, honestly,” Wilfork told MassLive when asked about the report of Belichick being spurned by Hall voters. “That’s personal. That don’t have anything to do with nothing but somebody holding something personal against him. Because there’s no reason Bill Belichick shouldn’t be in the Hall of Fame first ballot. No reason. That’s just insane. It’s bananas. It really sucks.”

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Six Super Bowl wins, the most by any coach, 333 wins overall, second most all-time next to Don Shula, and Belichick still didn’t pass muster.

“It’s just wrong. It’s such (expletive). They have to fix that,” Wilfork said. “I don’t care what you feel about the guy personally, there’s no coach in football, playing this game we all love, who’s even won six Super Bowls. So give him his flowers. It’s such an injustice.”

Wilfork says however the voting works with the 50 members of the Hall of Fame Committee, it has to change. The selection process is flawed if they’re keeping Belichick out.

“I don’t know what their rules are, or how they go about it, I have no idea,” Wilfork said. “I can’t tell you how they pick Hall of Famers. At the end of the day, they can put whoever they want in there.

“My thing is be consistent how you do things. If you’re consistent how you do things, Bill would be in there.”

The system changed last year. Voters used to get a yes-or-no vote for each of the finalists, with those who received 80 percent of the yes votes being the magic number for entry into the Hall.

Now, the five finalists from the coach, contributor, and seniors categories end up in the same pool while the modern era players are in a different bucket.

Of the five, the voters pick three. Those who appear on 80 percent of the ballots get in. So instead of a simple yay or nay, the five finalists from the coach, contributor, and seniors categories are in direct competition.

“I really do believe they need to look into this after this year,” Wilfork said, “because this is not right. They need to go back to the drawing board. I don’t know who can put that pressure on them to do that … because there’s so much uproar over Bill Belichick.

“I don’t care what sport you play, I don’t care your age, you know who Bill Belichick is, and what he’s accomplished. He’s an icon walking.

“I hope they get a lot of backlash because it was wrong. So they need to get that fixed, man.”

Wilfork, a two-time Super Bowl winner, has been a semifinalist but that’s as far as he’s advanced. Rodney Harrison, another two-time Super Bowl winner, is still on the outside looking in. So is Adam Vinatieri, who is a finalist for the second time in as many years. He will know his fate next Thursday night at the NFL Honors.

And, Kraft, a finalist for the first time in the contributor category, may, or may not get in after numerous tries. He was in the same voting pool as Belichick.

“You can’t have one set of rules for one set of guys, and another for another set,” Wilfork said. “Are we talking about something personal, or are we going to keep it to the facts? So now I’m wondering are they going to do the same with Tom (Brady)? Will he be first ballot? Are they going to hold Deflategate against him? C’mon.

“You’re talking about the best owner, the best coach, the best quarterback of all time. So stop … let’s not play that game.”