Emmitt Smith 'Livid' over Bill Belichick Pro Football HOF Snub, Calls Out 'Hypocrisy' of Voters

Emmitt Smith is not happy he won't be joined by Bill Belichick in the Hall of Fame this year.

"I am livid. I am absolutely livid," he said during a Friday appearance on First Take when discussing the former New England Patriots head coach failing to receive enough votes to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

He also called out the media and fellow executives and coaches who vote for potentially letting their negative relationship with Belichick impact their decisions. He deemed it "hypocrisy" and said he wishes the votes were made public so people could be questioned.

"You're watering down something that's very special," Smith said.

The 2026 Hall of Fame class that will not include Belichick or Patriots team owner Robert Kraft was revealed in full Thursday and included Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald, Luke Kuechly, Roger Craig and Adam Vinatieri.

Brees, Fitzgerald, Kuechly and Vinatieri were modern-era selections, while Craig was the only senior player nominee to make it.

Voters were asked to choose from three of the five candidates between the senior player nominees (Craig, Ken Anderson and L.C. Greenwood), the coach category (Belichick) and the contributor category (Kraft). Anyone from that group who received 80 percent of the votes would be selected.

Vahe Gregorian of the Kansas City Star was one of the voters who did make his choice public and explained he "didn't vote against Belichick or Kraft" but instead "voted for three three senior candidates."

Still, Belichick is arguably the best coach in NFL history. That he didn't immediately make the Hall of Fame when eligible was stunning considering he won six Super Bowls as the head coach of the Patriots and two as the defensive coordinator of the New York Giants.

It is impossible to tell the story of football without extensively mentioning Belichick, and his 333 career regular season and playoff wins are second in league history behind only Don Shula's 347.

He will eventually be inducted, but Smith believes it should have been this year.