Thanks, Bill

The debate of whether or not the greatest coach of all time deserved to be let go (yes, he was let go) is a conversation for another time. Everyone has their opinions on that.

What's undebatable is that Bill Belichick led the greatest dynasty in professional sports, one that will likely never be replicated. That Belichick saved a dying franchise and changed the sports culture of an entire region. And we (as a New Englander) were lucky to have him.

I never thought this day would come. I thought for as long as he wanted, Bill would coach the Patriots. I felt he deserved that. And watching him speak to the media, not just today but over the course of this week, it seemed like he still wanted to. 

But for all the tough decisions Bill made over the years to cement himself as an all-time great, such decisions were made by Kraft to put him in that same category. Just as he made 24 years ago to bring Belichick on, he made again this week to set him free.

Who and what the Patriots are is because of Belichick. How the world perceives them as an organization is because of Belichick. Tom Brady becoming Tom Brady is because of Belichick. Ask Tom Brady.

He set a standard of excellence that required a certain type of person and player to excel in. He was hard on you, to no end, and never allowed a player’s status to supersede the team’s goals, a technique that immediately gained the respect of an entire roster.

He brought a winning mindset, and with it quickly brought wins. Championships on championships. And that flowed well past the walls of Patriot Place.

Whether it’s the Celtics in the 60s and 80s or the Red Sox in the early 1900s, the history of Boston sports is well documented. But at the turn of the century, they were dormant. The Celtics were one of the worst teams in the NBA, the Red Sox hadn’t won a World Series since 1918, and the Bruins since 1972. 

I won’t speculate on the pulse of the city at that time since I was a mere five year old starring in the kindergarten school play, but I can tell you that after the Patriots starting winning, it became infectious across the city. 

Winning became the expectation, and players in Boston could feel it. The pressure of winning to keep up with their contemporaries is documented by players during that time.

Boston became Title Town because of the Patriots. Because of Bill Belichick.

I’ll always be grateful for Bill. For the decision to play Tom Brady over the $100 million man Drew Bledsoe. For the countless decisions all of us moronic fans questioned and doubted that always turned out to be ingenious.

For many of the fondest memories of my childhood as I fell in love with football and this team. For the even more times I acted like I was a superior being than others in my adolescent years because I was a Patriots fan and they weren’t. And for allowing many New Englanders to grasp onto this team like it was theirs in times when they may not have had much else. 

I’m going to miss the grumpy grandpa looking like he just got attacked by a pack of wild street dogs in a back alley mumbling one line answers that have nothing to do with the question he was asked in his press conferences. I’ll miss the sassy challenge flag tosses in the ref’s face after taking thirty seconds to get the damn flag out of his sock. I’ll miss the smiles when you least expect it, the stoic looks of nothingness after we score touchdowns, and the “what the fucks” the broadcast catches him saying after we do any miniscule thing wrong.

I’ll miss you, Coach.

I think it’ll be weirder to see Belichick in another uniform than Brady. I think in the back of my mind I assumed Brady would finish elsewhere, but never Bill. Bill was a lifer. As he said in his presser while choked up with emotion as he thanked the fans, he’s a Patriot for life. 

I will continue to root for him. I will continue to defend him when necessary. And I will always feel lucky to be a Patriot fan.

Football in New England will never be the same.