Dick Vermeil
I Really feel Responsible Being In Corridor of Fame
… After Belichick Snub
Printed
TMZSports.com
Dick Vermeil has seen all the things the NFL can throw at you … however leaving Invoice Belichick out of Canton has him fully shocked.
The Corridor of Fame coach didn’t maintain again with TMZ Sports activities whereas speaking about Belichick’s first-ballot snub … saying the brand new voting course of flat-out doesn’t work for coaches — and the Patriots legend being omitted proves it.
Vermeil stated he felt the identical frustration final 12 months when Mike Holmgren bought handed over … declaring that underneath the Corridor’s revamped system, coaches hold getting squeezed out whereas different positions cruise in.
And with regards to Belichick? Vermeil didn’t hesitate.
“If anybody belongs in the Hall of Fame regardless of voting, it’s Bill Belichick,” he stated, including that he really feels “guilty being in there with him not there.”
Belichick was considered one of 5 finalists within the coach, contributor and seniors classes, during which voters can solely choose as much as three, whereas candidates want 80% approval.
Vermeil additionally rattled off Mike Shanahan and Tom Coughlin as no-brainers, saying elite coaches merely don’t get the identical respect anymore as star quarterbacks … “and I guess that’s why they pay them so much money.”
As for the controversies that critics nonetheless carry up round Belichick? Vermeil waved them away with many years of perspective.
“It’s baloney,” he stated, explaining that after beginning within the league again in 1969, he’s seen loads of issues that had been “not legal or ethical” that by no means noticed the sunshine of day — and had been simply as critical as something getting used towards Belichick now.
Vermeil did say he trusts Corridor president Jim Porter to repair the issue finally, however made it clear the voting course of has failed.
“When you leave out a Bill Belichick,” Vermeil stated, “the system does not work.”
If arguably the best coach ever isn’t a Corridor of Famer but … the Corridor’s bought a Corridor of Fame downside.