Jerry McDonald: If Bill Belichick has to wait a year so 49ers' Roger Craig makes the Hall of Fame, that's a no-brainer

I reacted with puzzlement and amazement when the news broke that former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick will not be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on the first ballot.

In the days since, I’ve done an about-face. If Belichick has to get snubbed for Roger Craig to be enshrined, I’m OK with it.

Same with Ken Anderson and L.C. Greenwood.

It doesn’t mean it’s right or just.

When the voting system pits someone who is an all-time great in a strategic sense against an athlete who put his blood, sweat and tears on the line like Craig in an 11-year career and is probably still feeling it every time he gets out of bed in the morning, then something is very wrong with the selection process.

The late Al Davis of the Raiders used to say the game is about the players. When it comes to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, grouping senior players with coaches and contributors invites the kind of controversy that now surrounds Belichick and overshadows the contributions of three players who were standard bearers for their franchises.

The Hall process includes 15 modern-era players who must receive 80% of the vote for election. Among them is Frank Gore, the NFL’s third all-time leading rusher with 16,000 yards behind Emmitt Smith (18,355) and Walter Payton (16,726). Gore gained 11,073 of his yards with the 49ers from 2005 through 2014 and is now a scout for the club. A maximum of five can be elected.

Those players are separate from the muddled senior/coach/contributor category that includes Craig, Greenwood (Pittsburgh) and Anderson (Cincinnati), along with Belichick and Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Between one and three can be elected, which means Craig’s chances may have improved with Belichick reportedly failing to get 40 of 50 votes.

All candidates have a presenter familiar with the qualifications of their candidate. The balloting is all done in secret and voters are prohibited from writing or discussing what went on during the debate period. With six Lombardi Trophies with the Patriots and two as a New York Giants defensive coordinator, Belichick was believed to be a lock. The news he didn’t make it was uncovered by ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham.

One voter, Vahe Gregorian of the Kansas City Star, articulated his feelings about why he left Belichick off the ballot and voted in favor of Craig, Greenwood and Anderson with the idea that senior candidates who are running out of chances were prioritized over someone who would likely get in at some point later.

And Belichick will get in. After this firestorm, he’ll likely be in next year. He’ll still get his gold jacket (they ought to give him a gold hoodie) and will deserve it. He deserves it this year, were he not pitted against actual players.

Any list of the greatest coaches in NFL history would include Belichick and the 49ers’ Bill Walsh. Walsh made it on his fourth try in 1993. If Belichick has to wait a year, it’s not the abhorrent snub it’s made out to be.

The rules have changed periodically, and probably will again. Maybe they’ll revise the system for selecting senior candidates separate from that of coaches and contributors. Maybe the process will become more transparent in terms of disclosing who voted for what. But the bottom line will always be that it’s supposed to be hard to make the Hall of Fame.

To hint at some sort of conspiracy among voters to keep Belichick out on the basis of his team being involved in the “Spygate” and “Deflategate” controversies is off the mark. Same with the idea that some voters rejected him because of his occasionally brusque treatment of the media. I know a number of Hall of Fame voters. They take their responsibility very seriously.

The irony is that few if any coaches have a better sense of NFL history than Belichick. In the days when coaches had conference calls with opposing media every week, Belichick could either gruffly give impatient answers or be one of the most fascinating historians you’ve ever heard when it came to his breadth of knowledge about everything to do with the NFL.

Craig was the NFL’s first 1,000-1,000 yard back in terms of running and receiving. He was a driving force on three Walsh-coached Super Bowl champions along with Joe Montana and Jerry Rice. His dual usage paved the way for rushing/receiving backs like Marshall Faulk and Christian McCaffrey.

Anderson was schooled by Walsh in the game-changing “West Coast Offense” from 1971 through 1975 in Cincinnati until Walsh left for the 49ers, won an MVP and was routinely among the NFL’s top passers.

Greenwood was the best outside pass rusher on a Pittsburgh defense that ranks among the best of all time and before sacks were an official statistic. He was Charles Haley before Charles Haley.

NFL coaches, Belichick included, preach endlessly to “control what you can control” and that life isn’t always fair. This isn’t fair either, but I don’t see waiting a year as being some sort of life-altering event in which Belichick has been wronged at an inhuman level.

Craig and Anderson are running out of chances to make the Hall of Fame. Greenwood passed away from kidney failure in 2013. A senior candidate is one who played his last game at least 25 years ago.

If they go in while Belichick waits a year, I can live with it.