Kirk Herbstreit feels the same as everyone else — it's “ridiculous” that former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and team owner Robert Kraft were held out of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Leading into Super Bowl LX, the big storylines outside of the game were the surprising snubs of Belichick and Kraft. Both were the leading figures of the Patriots dynasty that dominated the NFL across two decades, winning six Super Bowls while going to the big game on nine occasions.
However, it appeared personal pettiness played a role in keeping the two Patriots figures out, with former Indianapolis Colts executive Bill Polian reportedly playing a role.
You can count Herbstreit as another person who's wondering if Belichick and Kraft are getting the “Pete Rose punishment” despite their accomplished resumes.
“You might be able to help me, because the optics of it, I think, are ridiculous,” said Herbstreit in a one-on-one interview. “You get the best coach to ever do it, one of the best owners to ever do it, I don't know. Is this punishment for Spygate? Is this punishment for Deflategate? I haven't stayed up on top of it to really know the people that left them out, what the reasoning was, that's the only thing I can think of. But if that's the case, is it like a Pete Rose kind of punishment, like we're never voting for you, or is it just this first time round as punishment?”
Herbstreit mentioned the Patriots' dominance within their own division in the AFC East under Belichick and Kraft's leadership. New England clinched the division in 17 of 19 seasons from 2001 until 2019. The Patriots went 141-30 (.824) against AFC East opponents during that time frame.
“Because if that's the case, that doesn't make sense at all to me,” Herbstreit continued. “I think the optics of it aren't the greatest to me, it seems like a no brainer. They both were — think about it — you lived in that division, think about how long that went on. You're talking 20 years of dominance. Bill Walsh had a great one in San Francisco. And you go round and round and talk about different guys and different coaches, Chuck Noll, Tom Landry. But to me, based on what I've watched in my lifetime, Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft to me, I think are the greatest ever do it.”
The well-known NFL and college football analyst believes both Belichick and Kraft will eventually get in, but remains flustered as to why they were left out on the first ballot.
“I know they'll eventually get in, but to me, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense why they've been left out,” said Herbstreit.
