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Scott Garceau woke up Wednesday morning with a sudden surge in popularity.

Garceau, a former longtime WMAR-TV sports anchor and former broadcaster on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network and the Orioles Radio Network, has served for over two decades on the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s selection committee, a voting body facing new scrutiny after Bill Belichick reportedly fell short of induction in his first year on the ballot.

Garceau said he got texts and calls wondering how he voted on the former New England Patriots head coach, who was raised in Annapolis. His response to each was the same.

“Hey, I would like to help you, but I’d be violating the trust that the Hall gives us,” said Garceau, who represents Baltimore on the 50-person Hall of Fame panel. The NFL’s 31 other franchises are also represented by a local media member, while another member of the voting panel is a representative of the Pro Football Writers of America and up to 17 other voters are at-large delegates, including Hall of Fame members such as executive Bill Polian and coach Tony Dungy.

“So I won’t reveal my vote. After the vote, I think it’s a different story if you say, ‘Hey, I voted for so-and-so.’”

In voting this month, Belichick reportedly fell short of the 40 ballots needed for induction, meaning at least 11 Hall of Fame voters snubbed the head coach with the most Super Bowl titles (six) and second-most wins (347) in league history.

ESPN reported that Spygate and Deflategate, cheating scandals that marred the Patriots’ long run of success under Belichick, came up in deliberations among voters.

“Is it surprising? I think it is for a lot of people,” Garceau said in an interview Wednesday. “But I go back to this way: No matter how I voted, Pete Rose isn’t in the Hall of Fame. Barry Bonds isn’t in the Hall of Fame. Bill Belichick this year isn’t in the Hall of Fame. And I think we all know that, if you look at their numbers and their performance, they were Hall of Fame locks, all those guys.

“None of them are in right now, and none of it has to do with anything on their résumé, as far as what they did, right? I mean, it was the gambling issue with Rose. It was [the] steroid issue with Bonds. With Belichick, there’s Spygate, Deflategate and other things. And maybe I don’t agree with it, but I guess I respect the process. And if he isn’t in this year ... he might have to wait one year. But Bill Belichick put a Hall of Fame career on.”

Garceau said Hall of Fame voting meetings typically last eight to nine hours and include “thorough discussion” of all the candidates — positive and negative. Teams, players and coaches also reach out to voters, Garceau said.

“You get phone calls, emails, letters, handwritten letters,” he said. “So there’s a lot that goes into it. You don’t just walk into the room and say who’s on the ballot this year and vote. The process gets questioned a lot, like it is right now. But I think it’s the best in all the sports.”

Belichick was one of five Hall finalists among coaches, contributors and senior players who last appeared in a game in 2000 or earlier. Patriots owner Robert Kraft, a first-time candidate who helped build the team’s dynasty but has since had a falling-out with Belichick, was the contributor finalist. Roger Craig, Ken Anderson and L.C. Greenwood were the player finalists.

One to three of those finalists will be inducted into the Hall along with three to five modern-era players from a group of 15 finalists, including Ravens greats Marshal Yanda and Terrell Suggs.

Garceau chuckled at the notion of Belichick and Kraft being enshrined together and speculated that sharing the same ballot could’ve hurt their candidacies.

“It’s still kind of a strained relationship,” he said. “So [at least] one of them’s not going in. We’ll see.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.