Like many in the football community, Jimmy Johnson was outraged by the news that Bill Belichick wouldn’t be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a first-ballot honoree. Now, he’s wondering who might be to blame for that.
In an interview with FOX Sports’ “The Herd,” Johnson pondered if New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft might have played a role in Belichick not getting inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year.
“It could be,” Johnson said when Colin Cowherd asked if he thought Kraft might have played a role in Belichick not making the Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2026. “There’s a lot of media that says they wanna have access to the New England Patriots. Well, who’s going to give them access? Bob Kraft. So, if there’s some tension between Belichick and Kraft, and maybe Kraft wants to go in before Belichick goes in, but there are a lot of different factors.
“But for some reason, these people, 10, 11 or 12 voters, did not vote for Belichick. With his accolades and all the championships, he deserved to go in first ballot, unanimously.”
Kraft, who is also a finalist for induction this year, and Belichick notably feuded in the head coach’s final seasons with the Patriots. The two have also thrown some shade at each other since Belichick’s firing as head coach of the Patriots in 2024. In the Apple TV+ docuseries “The Dynasty,” which covered the Patriots’ run, Kraft called Belichick a “pain in the tush.” Some also believed that the docuseries painted Kraft in a positive light, with former players criticizing it for being too negative on Belichick.
Jimmy Johnson on Bill Belichick not making the Hall of Fame, Miami
In that same offseason, ESPN reported that Kraft warned the Atlanta Falcons “not to trust” Belichick when the team was interviewing the former Patriots head coach for the same role. Adding to the tension, Kraft told “The Breakfast Club” in October 2024 that he had fired Belichick. Before that admission, the team had said that Kraft and Belichick mutually agreed to part ways.
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As for Belichick, he excluded Kraft from the acknowledgment section in the book he released in 2025, “The Art of Winning: Lessons From a Life in Football.” Belichick also took issue with Kraft saying that he made a “risk” in hiring him in 2000 over the summer, before he seemingly threw a jab at the Kraft family when the now UNC coach was asked what’s different about the college game.
Kraft, however, emphatically said that he felt Belichick should be in the Hall of Fame in a statement to The Associated Press on Wednesday, pointing to the six Super Bowls he won as head coach of the Patriots.
“He is the greatest coach of all time, and he unequivocally deserves to be a unanimous first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer,” Kraft said.
Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick enjoyed plenty of success in their 24 years together, but they haven’t necessarily been fond of each other in recent years. (Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)
Regardless of who’s to blame, though, Johnson feels restless about what transpired with Belichick and the Hall of Fame vote.
“I don’t think I’ve had three hours’ sleep since the news came out last night because it’s so wrong,” Johnson said. “Look at the accolades. Look at all the division wins. Look at eight Super Bowls, six of them as a head coach. Second all-time winningest coach in history.”
The former Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins head coach has remained active on social media for nearly a day after the news broke of Belichick getting snubbed from the Hall of Fame. He’s made several social media posts asking those on the 50-person voting committee to reveal who might not have voted for Belichick.
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Johnson also pushed back on the notion that Spygate, which was the illegal videotaping scandal that led to a $500,000 fine for Belichick in 2007, should prevent the former Patriots head coach from making the Hall of Fame. In fact, Johnson, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2021, said he did what Belichick did during his time as a head coach.
“Some of them use the excuse of Spygate, which is totally ridiculous,” Johnson said. “Every team in the league, before they had the electronic communications from the sideline to the field, tried to steal the opponent’s signals, whether or not it would be an assistant coach studying the opponent on how they were signaling.”
Johnson also disagreed with the idea that Belichick should wait his turn because other notable coaches, like Bill Parcells and himself, weren’t inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on the first ballot.
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“No, it’s not. You’re completely wrong,” Johnson said when Cowherd asked if it was a legitimate argument to say Belichick should wait because those guys waited. “Coaches are a lot older than players, and you’d like to get the coach in before he’s dead. Because of the age of coaches, it’s not like they’re going to retire when they’re 31, they’re going to retire when they’re 65. Because of the difference of age, the coaches need to go in really before they get to the point where they can’t enjoy it.”
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Belichick, who turns 74 in April, will still be eligible for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame next year. But Johnson, who is a friend of Belichick’s, thinks he’s “hurt” by the news of his Hall of Fame snub.
“We’re all bothered by it,” Johnson said. “When you work as hard as coaches work, they’re proud of what they accomplished. Bill’s proud of what he accomplished in New England. Yeah, he had a great quarterback. But how many Pro Football Hall of Fame coaches didn’t have a great quarterback? I had Troy Aikman. [Chuck] Knoll had Terry Bradshaw [with the Steelers]. [Bill] Walsh had Joe Montana. You can’t use that excuse.
“Just knowing Bill personally, I don’t know a single person who knows the history of the NFL like Bill Belichick. … It’s gotta hurt him that he didn’t make it first ballot.”
As it was announced that Belichick was a finalist in the Hall of Fame vote in December, Johnson thought it was a sure thing that Belichick would get into Canton this summer. He even went as far as to tell Belichick that he would be seeing him getting inducted into the Hall of Fame when they caught up at the national championship earlier in January.
“I thought it was just going to be a slam dunk. I chartered a plane, I was going to fly my jet up to see him go in,” Johnson said. “Well, I canceled that flight. I’m not going.”
