New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick shares his opinions only when he feels very strongly about something. You can tell, then, that the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection criteria — or lack thereof — gets on his nerves.
Belichick on Friday reacted to the announcement of the semifinalists for the Hall of Fame’s 2022 modern-era class. That group includes Vince Wilfork and Richard Seymour, two of Belichick’s former players. Belichick vouched for both of them to be selected, but also took time to criticize the selection process as a whole.
“The Hall of Fame’s out of my control, and since there’s no criteria for the Hall of Fame, it’s really hard to even have a conversation about it because it’s not based on anything,” Belichick said, via Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald. “It’s your opinion on a great player, my opinion on a great player, somebody else’s opinion on a great player. I don’t know what that means.
“When there’s no criteria, you can make a case for everybody.”
The Hall of Fame, like most awards and honors of its nature, prefers to leave things open-ended, trusting voters to make the right decisions. Whether that’s good or bad is subjective. It undoubtedly helps foster debate and discussion, which is something that the Hall of Fame would want. That kind of chatter creates buzz, though it can also lead to bad feelings.
Belichick has been on a run of bold opinions lately. This one is a little bit light-hearted, but you could certainly say he has a point.
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