Since James White punched in the final touchdown of Super Bowl LI, wrapping up the most incredible comeback in Super Bowl history and cementing Bill Belichick‘s legacy as the greatest football coach of all time, we’ve seen a different side of Bill. He’s more open to discussion, more personable, more… human. It’s strange, because this is the man who taught us that sometimes less is more and press conference questions are really more of a suggestion, but Bill’s been letting his hair out a little recently. Now, this isn’t a drastic change – you won’t see Belichick going on Dancing With The Stars anytime soon or cozying up with the ladies from The View. But his typical gruff, monotone personality in the public eye has recently given way to a man who’s a little more open to the public, and the results have been great. Whether it was the great celebrations immediately after the game, or the “No days off” chant at the parade, Belichick has been truly enjoying this most recent Super Bowl win, possibly more than any one prior.
Which brings us to yesterday. Willie McGinest played for the Patriots from 1994-2005 and churned out an impressive career which netted him 3 Super Bowls, the NFL record for most postseason sacks (16), and a spot in the Patriots Hall of Fame. Willie now works for the NFL Network, but has obviously managed to maintain a decent relationship with his former coach. And whoever decided to get these two talking on air for a couple of minutes is a goddamn genius, because any time you get Bill Belichick talking about old football teams or plays you’re gonna realize how mind-blowingly intelligent that man is.
First off, the pop quizzes. A great Bill story. You think guys like Randy Moss and Aqib Talib were thrilled about having to take pop quizzes about the guys they were about to go up against? Hell no. Think they did it anyway? Well they stepped foot on the field, didn’t they? Bill is that douchey high school teacher that you end up with a C- and hate his guts, but then 2 years later when you take the same class in college and the whole class is a review, you thank him. May not be fun in the moment, but it’s a little hard to be bitter when you’re getting fitted for Super Bowl rings every other year.
The Indy stuff made me laugh out loud, no joke. And the fact that Bill can laugh about that 4th and 2 that sent 12-year old me into my bedroom in tears proves that this is a new man we’re working with here. Prior to having a bazillion rings, Belichick would never joke about a game like that, and if he did he wouldn’t do it on NFL Network into a live microphone.
But this is the new Bill we got, and I for one love it. Kind of a happy medium between Pete Carroll and Coach Carter, and I think it’ll work wonders for the path to Super Bowl 52.
PS – At about the 1:30 mark in the original video, Bill talks about the Mike Vrabel fake timeout against the Colts, then says “and then they changed that rule on us, too,” which got laughs from Willie McGinest and everyone in the booth. It’s not there anymore, so obviously the NFL cut it out because they’re soft little teddy bears that can’t take a little jab from the GOAT on their own network. #StayWoke
