Tuesday evening's news that former Patriots coach Bill Belichick would not be making the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility has set off a firestorm of debate.
And a gold-jacket-wearing Cowboys icon has waded right into the middle of it with a shocking admission of his own.
Belichick would, by any measurable standard, be the textbook definition of a shoo-in for enshrinement in Canton. The 73-year-old, who was a fixture on NFL sidelines for almost 50 years, won a record six Super Bowl titles as head coach of the Patriots and another two as a Giants coordinator in the late '80s and early '90s. He has more postseason victories than any head coach in league history and ranks third among all NFL coaches in all-time regular-season wins.
Yet he failed to amass 40 of the 50 votes required for induction into the Hall of Fame on his first ballot, per an ESPN report from Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham.
An uproar immediately followed. According to the ESPN report, some sources said that during the voters' deliberations, Spygate and Deflategate- two highly-publicized cheating scandals from Belichick's past- engendered discussion. A rehashing of those controversies apparently swayed multiple voters into a "no" vote, at least for this year.
Former Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson, who won three Super Bowl trophies of his own and was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2020, was among the first football notables to express his shock and outrage over the vote.
I would like to know the names of the assholes who did not vote for him..they are too cowardly to identify themselves… https://t.co/pCVV4Xeqpb
— Jimmy Johnson (@JimmyJohnson) January 27, 2026
"I would like to know the names of the [expletive]s who did not vote for him," Johnson posted on X shortly after the news broke. "They are too cowardly to identify themselves."
Johnson went off in several posts Tuesday night by claiming, "This is just WRONG," railing against the Hall's "SECRET BALLOT" process, and calling Belichick "the greatest of all time."
By Wednesday morning, the man who engineered the remarkable turnaround of the Cowboys from doormat to dynasty in just a few short years, defended Belichick in part by making a stunning admission of his own.
If they are using the EXCUSE of spygate that’s ridiculous…many teams (including ourselves) tried it..Howard Mudd at Kansas City who later coached for Bill Polian and Tony Dungy gave us the idea..he was the best..we didn’t get anything and stopped but many teams gave it a try https://t.co/ajrv5Iqq58
— Jimmy Johnson (@JimmyJohnson) January 28, 2026
"If they are using the EXCUSE of spygate that's ridiculous," Johnson posted. "[M]any teams including ourselves tried it..Howard Mudd at Kansas City who later coached for Bill Polian and Tony Dungy gave us the idea..he was the best..we didn't get anything and stopped but many teams gave it a try".
Johnson did not elaborate on whether he was referring to the Cowboys or the Miami Dolphins- where he coached and was GM for four seasons after his Dallas tenure- when he referred to "ourselves." But his brushing off of apparent attempts at gathering intel on opponents gameday plans could raise a few eyebrows in regard to Johnson's own success.
Other NFL coaches of the era have shared similar revelations to Johnson's. Ex-Steelers coach and fellow Hall of Famer Bill Cowher has said of the Patriots allegedly videotaping sideline signals, "They were doing nothing different than anybody else was doing."
The furor over Belichick's Canton snub and the Hall of Fame voting process will undoubtedly linger. Whether Johnson's personal admission gets any kind of closer scrutiny or has any lasting impact remains to be seen.
Todd is on X at @ToddBrock24f7. Also, follow Cowboys Wire on Facebook to join in on the conversation with fellow fans!
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Cowboys' Jimmy Johnson joins Belichick debate with stunning admission
