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When it comes to the argument for the Patriots boss as the greatest ever NFL coach, the persistent cheating accusations against him just make it impossible to suspend disbelief
wakeThere are coaches who chase the spotlight, and then there’s Bill Belichick – a man who has shown about as much patience for the media as he has sleeves on a sweatshirt in his 20 seasons with the New England Patriots. Nowhere does he make his contempt for the Fourth Estate plainer than in his brooding news conferences, a trademark to rival his six championships rings and an exercise he would avoid altogether if the league didn’t force him to do it.
No matter how pro forma the questions – be they about personnel or strategy, be it in victory or defeat – Belichick, in a mumbling tone, defaults to responses that are by turns clipped, cagey and cliché. Throughout he stands before his curious audience defiant, in much the same way a POW might before an enemy firing squad. All that’s missing is the blindfold over his narrow-eyed stare and the cigarette dangling from his pursed lips. Fresh cheating allegations against the Patriots figure to make the cranky coach even more contemptuous of the beleaguered men and women who cover him. Continue reading...