Lawrence Taylor Sounds Off After Bill Belichick Misses First-Ballot Hall of Fame Nod
When it comes to football royalty, few names carry more weight than Lawrence Taylor. And when LT speaks, the football world listens. So after Bill Belichick - the architect of eight Super Bowl championships - was not voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on his first ballot, Taylor didn’t hold back.
“You’re saying that Bill Belichick is not worthy to be in the Hall of Fame, first ballot?” Taylor said in a video circulating on social media. “If he’s not, then the whole thing is total bulls---.”
Hard to argue with the man who redefined defensive dominance.
Belichick, with a career record of 333-178, is widely regarded as one of the greatest minds the game has ever seen. Many assumed his induction would be a formality - a rubber stamp on a legacy that spans decades and includes some of the most dominant teams in NFL history. But at least 11 voters left him off their ballots, meaning he’ll have to wait at least another year before donning the gold jacket.
For Taylor, this isn’t just about Belichick’s resume - it’s personal. The two go way back, to the heart of the Giants’ golden era.
Belichick was on the Giants’ coaching staff from 1981 to 1990, first as Taylor’s position coach and later as the team’s defensive coordinator. During that stretch, Taylor didn’t just thrive - he terrorized offenses in a way the league had never seen before.
Ten straight Pro Bowls. Eight First-team All-Pro nods.
And in 1986, the crown jewel: a 20.5-sack season that earned him NFL MVP honors - a feat only two defensive players in league history have ever achieved. That same year, Belichick’s defense was the backbone of a Giants team that rolled to a Super Bowl XXI title.
Their partnership helped shape the identity of the “Big Blue Wrecking Crew,” a defense that would go on to win another Super Bowl (XXV) and carve out a permanent place in NFL lore. Belichick has never been shy about crediting Taylor for that era’s success, once calling him the “greatest defensive player in the history of the game.”
So when a guy like Taylor - who lived Belichick’s brilliance firsthand - goes to bat for his former coach, it’s not just nostalgia. It’s respect.
It’s legacy. And it’s a reminder that sometimes, the numbers and rings don’t tell the whole story.
The people who were in the trenches do.
Whether Belichick gets in next year or the year after, his place in football history is secure. But for Taylor, the idea that it’s even up for debate? That’s a non-starter.
And honestly, he’s not alone in that thinking.