Singing A Different Tune Now?

Shank's feigning outrage over Bill Belichick not making it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame:

What’s the point of the Pro Football Hall of Fame if Bill Belichick doesn’t get in on the first ballot?

Ridiculous.

Also petty, embarrassing, unprecedented, stupid, and preposterous.

In his first year of eligibility, Bill Belichick failed to get enough votes for induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

It’s a farce.

The election process is somewhat complicated. Belichick was rejected by a Hall panel of 50 voters comprised of veteran media members, plus a handful of Hall of Famers, including Bill Polian, Tony Dungy, Dan Fouts, and James Lofton. Belichick needed at least 40 votes to gain admission, but according to an ESPN report, the Hoodie came up short and was informed of the snub by the Hall last Friday.

According to ESPN, in response to the rejection, Belichick asked associates, “Six Super Bowls wasn’t

Among all NFL head coaches, dead or alive, Belichick ranks first in Super Bowl wins (six), conference championships (nine), and playoff wins (31). His 333 total wins places him second only to the late Don Shula, who won 347 for the Colts and Dolphins. As a head coach and assistant, Belichick coached 49 NFL seasons, winning eight Super Bowl rings — six with the Patriots and two as an assistant under Bill Parcells with the Giants.

Count me out as someone believing this new change of heart by Shank towards Belichick. Do any of you remenber this one (links go to the DSW column we wrote at the time; old Boston Globe links are 404'd now) from September 2015?

Let's review a few other positive Shaughnessy columns about Bill Belichick, shall we? We all remember last year's Kansas City Massacre, right?

By the end of the night, the darts and arrows were coming from every direction. Bill Belichick was grilled about his musical-chair offensive line and the notion of starting two rookies in front of Brady in a loud enemy theater. The coach was asked if he might have to “evaluate” his quarterback position; the question from CSNNE’s Mike Giardi elicited a smirk with no comment.

There were hysterical calls for out-of-work Charlie Weis to replace Josh McDaniels as offensive coordinator. Darrelle Revis was compared to Carl Crawford (OK, that one was me). It was noted that no Belichick defense had ever surrendered 300 yards in a first half. There was a television graphic explaining that the Patriots offense ranks last in the NFL, averaging 4.6 yards per play. We were told that Brady has missed his target more than 25 percent of the time.

“I’ve never seen a team so unprepared,’’ former Patriot Rodney Harrison said on WEEI.

And who can forget the infamous '4th and 2' column?

This was as bad as anything the Red Sox ever did. Had it been a playoff game, it would be right up there with Bucky Dent, Bill Buckner, Aaron Boone, and History Derailed in Glendale, Ariz.

And Bill Belichick played the part of Grady Little.

...

Even the legions of zombies who say “In Bill We Trust’’ and the formidable pay-for-play Patriot media machine will have a hard time defending the brilliant coach on this one.

As we noted at the time, this is the column Shank has been waiting nearly a decade to write. He hates the Patriots (and Bill Belichick) so much, he wrote another column about that loss the next day.

The Patriots spin machine was in overdrive yesterday (speaking of spin, nice try by the Red Sox - raising ticket prices on the day after Belichick channeled Grady Little).

There are New England football fans who’d support Belichick if he pledged to eradicate indoor plumbing. And the Kraft family’s media partners do a nifty job spreading the gospel of Bob, Bill, and Tom. But the blind loyalty was put to the test on the day after the disaster at Lucas Oil Can Boyd Stadium.

And now Shank is singing Belichick's praises, probably from the wrong end of a gun. Who's buying this? We sure as hell aren't, and this insincerity will be amply demonstrated if the Patriots lose big this season.

You can read about Shank's columns with respect to Spygate here, but as these columns make clear, Shank was no friend of Bill Belichick when he was coaching the New England Patriots.