New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is known to butter up his opponents leading up to a game. It likely started as an effort to make his players respect the upcoming opponent as his Patriots ran through the NFL during the Belichick/Tom Brady era. And he certainly doesn’t give the opposition any bulletin board material. That said, he seems to have a special appreciation for the Green Bay Packers franchise and what they’ve meant for the league.
Belichick is a History Buff
Coach Belichick has been known to give his players history lessons about the NFL during team meetings. He’s also known to be interested in military history. So it comes to no surprise that he opened Wednesday’s press conference with a lengthy dialogue about the history of the Green Bay Packers and the greatness of the Packers franchise:
Bill Belichick opens today's press conference with a lengthy statement not about Mac Jones, but about the history of the Packers and how good they are pic.twitter.com/q1W7wZZ9uj
— Dakota Randall (@DakRandallNESN) September 28, 2022
All anyone in New England wants to know about is the status of Mac Jones’ ankle. But Belichick opens his media availability talking about the greatness of Clarke Hinkle, Cecil Isbell, Don Hutson, Curly Lambeau and Vince Lombardi. So perfectly on-brand for him. He specifically talks about how great Isbell and Hutson were as a Quarterback/Wide Receiver combination, revolutionizing the passing game.
Belichick on the 2022 Packers
Once his history lesson was over, Belichick pivoted to the 2022 Packers, where he heaped praise on the current squad, particularly the quarterback:
Bill Belichick on Aaron Rodgers: “This is a great, great, great quarterback.” pic.twitter.com/2lWVtTLFUn
— Chad Graff (@ChadGraff) September 28, 2022
He also called them well-coached, well balanced and a “really good football team.” At the very end of the video, Belichick said it would be a “great football environment.” I’m sure Bill absolutely relishes the few opportunities he gets to coach in Lambeau Field, which only happens every 8 years. A place with that much history seems like it would be right up Belichick’s alley.
Aaron Rodgers on Belichick
Packers QB Aaron Rodgers, a historian in his own right, paid his respects to Belichick during his weekly appearance on the Pat McAfee Show Tuesday, calling him “the best coach of all time:”
"Bill Belichick is the best coach of all time & he's been ahead of the game for a long time" ~@AaronRodgers12#PMSLive #ART pic.twitter.com/4mJ0HeCHhp
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) September 27, 2022
Many in this part of the country would argue that title belongs to Vince Lombardi. However, it’s hard to argue Belichick isn’t the best in the modern era of football. As Rodgers noted, his defensive game plans are unpredictable, multiple, and always ahead of the curve. There is a ton of mutual respect heading into Sunday’s game, and it will be very cool to see Belichick and Rodgers, two of the brightest football minds we’ve ever seen, match wits for 60 minutes.
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