Tony Dungy still refuses to share Pro Football Hall of Fame vote as Rodney Harrison says ‘you guys got it wrong’

NBC NFL analyst Tony Dungy was on the committee tasked with voting for who gets into the Pro Football Hall of Fame next year.

That committee did not put forward enough votes for six-time Super Bowl champion head coach Bill Belichick and six-time Super Bowl champion owner Robert Kraft in the latest round, prompting fervent criticism and calls for those who didn’t vote for Belichick, the most decorated head coach in NFL history, to make themselves known.

When presented with the opportunity to say how he voted, Dungy declined, saying he would wait until the official Hall of Fame inductees were made public.

The Hall of Fame inductees were announced this past week, clearing Dungy to speak freely about who he did or did not vote for.

Sunday, during NBC’s Super Bowl pre-game coverage, the former NFL head coach demurred once again, saying he wouldn’t disclose who he voted for.

“I’m not going to disclose that,” Dungy told Jac Collinsworth, who asked if he voted for Belichick. “When you come on the committee, you take an oath that you’re not going to discuss any of the debates, anything that happened there. I’m not going to put any of my teammates under the bus who they voted for, who I voted for.”

Dungy did, however, throw the Hall of Fame itself under the bus over why Belichick and others didn’t get in this year.

“In this category, coaches, contributors, senior players; there are five finalists. You could vote. We voted as a team. Our group voted. Roger Craig got the most votes. I stand behind that as a teammate. That’s how we voted,” he said. “But here’s the problem. We voted for three people. There are two other slots available. Bill Belichick definitely deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Robert Kraft deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. L.C. Greenwood deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Ken Anderson deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. And we’ve got two slots. But because of a change that the Hall of Fame made two years ago, none of those guys got in. And it wasn’t because of us.

“People think that we voted against Bill Belichick. We did not. As a matter of fact, if the same exact vote had taken place, same totals two years ago, Bill Belichick would be in, so would another deserving Hall of Famer. And that’s why I’m upset.”

Rodney Harrison was standing next to Dungy at the time and didn’t seem to accept his NBC broadcasting associate’s reasoning, adding that, regardless of the rules or requirements, Belichick deserved to get in.

“What I would say, coach, is any list that doesn’t include Bill Belichick at the top is absolutely wrong,” said Harrison. “And a lot of those players that we mentioned, they’re great players. I played with Drew Brees. I played with Adam Vinatari. But there’s nobody more deserving to be in that Hall of Fame than Coach Belichick. I’ve seen his greatness. I’ve seen him design defenses to stop your offense. You just look at the players that he’s impacted. He’s been unbelievable. When I look throughout the Hall of Fame, and even a guy like Tom Brady, Tom Brady wouldn’t be Tom Brady without Bill Belichick. That’s the disappointing part of it, Coach, and you guys got it wrong.”

Dungy said he felt Harrison’s passion on the issue and hoped the Hall of Fame would change its rules to ensure a situation like this doesn’t happen again.

Coincidentally, NFL Network Senior National Columnist Judy Battista reported Sunday that the Hall plans to make significant changes, including reducing the size of the 50-person committee, changing the membership makeup to include more non-media members, reducing the number of modern-era player finalists (currently 15), and making the votes public.