SAN JOSE, Calif. — NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Monday the league has nothing to do with the vote for the Pro Football Hall of Fame and that he believes Bill Belichick will eventually be inducted.
Sources told ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham last week that Belichick did not get enough votes in his first year of eligibility despite winning a record six Super Bowl titles as head coach of the New England Patriots.
There was speculation that Belichick’s role in the Spygate scandal in 2007 and changes to the voting process might have contributed to at least 11 of the 50 voters opting against voting for Belichick.
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and three seniors players — Ken Anderson, Roger Craig and L.C. Greenwood — with voters allowed to vote for only three candidates with 80% support needed.
«We are not involved in it,» Goodell said. «Bill Belichick’s record goes without saying, same with the Patriots and Robert Kraft, who is also a candidate. They are spectacular. They have contributed so much to this game, and I believe they will be Hall of Famers.»
Goodell touched on a number of topics in a wide-ranging news conference at the Super Bowl. Also discussed:
• Goodell said the NFL and the players’ union have not had «any formal discussions» about an 18-game schedule. He added that the two sides have had «very little informal conversations.»
He said expanding from 16 to 17 games «went quite smoothly.»
«But the challenges will be different here a little bit, and it’ll depend on a lot of factors, including safety of the game,» he said.
Goodell suggested part of the discussion will include roster sizes and whether teams should have two bye weeks to potentially accommodate an extra regular-season game.
• Goodell also announced the creation of the Paul J. Tagliabue NFL Academic Excellence Award in honor of the late commissioner who died in November. The award will be presented annually to an NFL player who epitomizes Tagliabue’s scholarship and academic excellence. The first recipient will be named during Super Bowl LXI week in Los Angeles next year with a donation in his honor being made to a university of his choosing.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
