Former Buffalo Bills GM Bill Polian clears the air about being responsible for Bill Belichick’s Hall of Fame snub

Back story: NFL Insider Ari Meirov posted on X: “From the ESPN report: Bill Polian was a vocal figure in the Hall of Fame deliberations involving Bill Belichick, with Spygate and Deflategate coming up among voters during discussions. Per a voter who spoke anonymously, Polian — the former [Buffalo] Bills and [Indianapolis] Colts GM and longtime Patriots rival — told some voters he believed Belichick should “wait a year” as penance for Spygate.”An hour later, Sports Illustrated’s Matt Verderame posted on X: “I just spoke on the phone with Bill Polian and asked whether he was an influence on Bill Belichick being snubbed by the Hall of Fame. His quote: “That’s totally and categorically untrue. I voted for him.”NFL Insider Adam Schefter reported on X that the eight-time Super Bowl-winning head coach is not a first ballot Hall of Famer. He fell short of the 40 out of 50 votes [80% necessary] needed for induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.Now that the North Carolina Tar Heels coach did not make the ballot; despite possessing one of the most successful coaching careers in NFL history, people may have started to look for loopholes or for who did not vote for the New England Patriots legendary coach.NBC Sports’ Mike Florio said, “There are some tangible theories as to what happened. I’m gonna put a pin in that to focus on the Bill Polian angle. It was prominently mentioned in the story from ESPN.com: Reportedly, Polian was leading the charge and would be the one most likely to do so. He’s the top suspect if you’re looking at the 50-vote.Who’s the one with the biggest axe to grind against Bill Belichick? It’s the guy who did battle with Belichick most often throughout the decade of the 2000s. It’s the guy who tried to get the rules changed, new point of emphasis for illegal contact with receivers and the Peyton Manning offense…”Dave Portnoy calls Belichick’s snub absurd and says, “This is what happens when you create a society of losers, of people who refuse to acknowledge greatness, who complain, make excuses, [---], and [---].Bill Polian is certainly a leader amongst those. He’s a liar and a coward. He’s somebody who could never beat the [New England] Patriots; they changed the rules of football because of Bill Polian. They couldn’t beat the Patriots. They whine, they complain, much like after the Patriots beat the [Denver] Broncos in bad weather.”Portnoy shared that when great teams win, everybody looks at them and feels they cheated or did something wrong. The Patriots “kicked our [---] for two decades. It wasn’t Spygate, it wasn’t Deflategate, it’s none of that. You got to look in the mirror.”The founder says there are people who won’t look themselves in the mirror and say, ‘I can’t beat that guy. I have to get better. I have to be the best I can be. Hats off to that team.’