Another Pro Football Hall of Famer expressed outrage over Bill Belichick not joining him in Canton.<\/p>\n
The NFL officially revealed the 2026 Hall of Fame class on Thursday. As previously reported<\/a>, Belichick and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft were not inducted.<\/p>\n Emmitt Smith chastized voters who left Belichick off their ballots during an ESPN appearance<\/a> on \u201cFirst Take.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI am livid,\u201d Smith said on Friday. \u201cI am absolutely livid because what you\u2019re seeing is the hypocrisy that\u2019s going on with some of these writers and so forth. People are mad at certain things, whether he wanted to talk to you.\u201d<\/p>\n ESPN\u2019s Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham reported<\/a> that former Indianapolis Colts general manager Bill Polian told fellow Hall of Fame voters that Belichick should \u201cwait a year\u201d for induction as punishment for New England\u2019s Spygate scandal. Polian denied that claim<\/a> but wavered on whether he voted for Belichick.<\/p>\n Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n The NFL\u2019s all-time rushing leader seemed to reference those rumors when demanding more accountability from voters, who aren\u2019t required to release their ballots publicly.<\/p>\n \u201cI dislike the fact that people vote, and their votes are not revealed who did what and why,\u201d Smith continued. \u201cCause I think you guys, the press, has the right to ask the question, why did you vote such a way? And what was your reasoning? <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t care if you\u2019re from Indianapolis. I don\u2019t care where you may be from. The bottom line is, you\u2019re mad for a reason. And whatever the reason is, you\u2019re acting like your (expletive) don\u2019t stink.\u201d<\/p>\n Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n