Patriots icon: Bill Belichick not being a first-ballot Hall of Famer is 'a personal attack'

The biggest football-related story coming off conference championship Sunday continues to involve former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick not being selected as a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

During a chat with Karen Guregian of MassLive for a piece published on Thursday, Patriots icon Vince Wilfork suggested he is offended by the Belichick snub.

Vince Wilfork: Bill Belichick not being a first-ballot Hall of Famer "really sucks"

"That’s a personal attack, honestly," Wilfork said about voters' treatment of Belichick. "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."

Previous reports mentioned that Belichick’s involvement in the "Spygate" and "Deflategate" scandals was mentioned during deliberations among Hall of Fame voters. One voter has since admitted that he simply selected three senior players over Belichick, which has sparked renewed questions regarding the process for choosing Hall of Famers. 

"I really do believe they need to look into this after this year," Wilfork said about the Hall of Fame voting system. "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."

Will "something personal" keep Tom Brady from being a first-ballot Hall of Famer?

The combination of Belichick, legendary quarterback Tom Brady and Patriots owner Robert Kraft guided the franchise to six Super Bowl championships from 2000 through the 2019 season. Like Wilfork, both Brady and Kraft have made it known they feel Belichick is the greatest NFL coach of all time and "deserves to be a unanimous first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer." 

Meanwhile, some have wondered if Brady's involvement in "Deflategate" will impact him when he becomes eligible for Hall induction in 2028.

"You can’t have one set of rules for one set of guys, and another for another set," Wilfork added. "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? 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."