Pro Football Hall of Fame changes voting rules following Belichick’s snub
The Pro Football Hall of Fame has overhauled its enshrinement process with sweeping changes, following controversy over Bill Belichick’s Hall of Fame snub.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame have plenty of busts, so a facelift was necessary at some point.
That much is apparent after the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced on Friday, Sept. 4 that there are serious changes coming to the way the process plays out ahead of induction. Most notably, the Hall of cutting its selector committee from 50 to 28, comprised of 25 voters and three non-voters.
The Hall of Fame says that this decision came following “a comprehensive review that began 2 1/2 years ago.” That means a number of voters who previously had the privilege of a Hall of Fame vote won’t any longer.
So, who votes to induct legends of the game? Here’s what we know:
Who votes for the Pro Football Hall of Fame?
Formerly, 50 voters – of which 40 votes were required for induction – were in charge of the selection and induction process.
Representatives for the 32 NFL teams, as well as one Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA) representative and 17 at-large members comprised the selection committee.
Now, the list of selectors is cut to 28, with 25 of those members voting. Status of the voters will be determined on a yearly basis. The Hall of Fame said Friday it will announce the 25 voters after all previous voters have been notified of their status but did not provide a timeline.
Here’s who was part of the selection committee prior to the changes in 2026:
- Arizona: Kent Somers, retired Arizona Republic
- Atlanta: Darryl Ledbetter, formerly of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Baltimore: Scott Garceau, 105.7 The Fan/WMAR-TV
- Buffalo: Vic Carucci, WGRZ-TV
- Carolina: Darin Gantt, Carolina Panthers
- Chicago: Dan Pompei, The Athletic
- Cincinnati: Geoff Hobson, Bengals.com
- Cleveland: Tony Grossi, ESPNCleveland.com/WKNR Radio
- Dallas: Rick Gosselin, Talk of Fame Network
- Denver: Jeff Legwold, ESPN/ESPN.com
- Detroit: Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press
- Green Bay: Pete Dougherty, Green Bay Press-Gazette
- Houston: John McClain, SportsRadio610
- Indianapolis: Mike Chappell, Fox 59/CBS 4
- Jacksonville: Sam Kouvaris, SamSportsLine.com
- Kansas City: Vahe Gregorian, Kansas City Star
- Las Vegas: Paul Gutierrez, Raiders.com
- Los Angeles (Chargers): Eric Williams, Fox Sports (formerly with Sports Illustrated)
- Los Angeles (Rams): Howard Balzer, SiriusXM NFL Radio
- Miami: Armando Salguero, Outkick.com
- Minnesota: Mark Craig, Minneapolis Star Tribune
- New England: Ron Borges, Talk of Fame Network
- New Orleans: Jeff Duncan, Times-Picayune
- New York (Giants): Gary Myers, Author
- New York (Jets): Rich Cimini, ESPN.com
- Philadelphia: Paul Domowitch, the33rdteam.com/PhillyMag.com
- Pittsburgh: Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
- San Francisco: Matt Maiocco, NBC Sports Bay Area
- Seattle: Mike Sando, The Athletic
- Tampa Bay: Ira Kaufman, JoeBucsFan.com
- Tennessee: Paul Kuharsky, PaulKuharsky.com
- Washington: Jarrett Bell, USA Today
- PFWA Representative: Calvin Watkins, Dallas Morning News
At-large members
- Joel Bussert, retired, NFL Office
- Mary Cay Cabot, Cleveland Plain Dealer
- Jason Cole, FanSided.com
- Frank Cooney, The Sports Xchange
- Tony Dungy, NBC Sports “Football Night in America”
- Dan Fouts, Broadcaster
- Lindsay Jones, The Ringer
- Clark Judge, Talk of Fame Network
- Ross Ketover, NFL Films
- James Lofton, CBS Sports
- Alex Marvez, SiriusXM NFL Radio
- Sal Paolantonio, ESPN
- Bill Polian, SiriusXM NFL Radio
- Lisa Salters, ESPN “Monday Night Football”
- Jim Trotter, retired, The Athletic
- Charean Williams, Pro Football Talk
- Barry Wilner, retired, Associated Press