Like a Gronk spike off the Gillette Stadium turf, this one hurt.
How could it not?
I hail from North Attleboro (just a 15-minute zip to Foxborough, without gameday traffic), so Bill Belichick has meant the world to me.
And then some.
He’s who I think of when I hear the word ‘coach.’
He and Tom Brady are the reasons I wear my pom-pom beanie the second it dips below 50 degrees.
He’s the one who gave me a case of the starstrucks whenever I attended training camps growing up.
And, most importantly, he’s the reason every Sunday has been a good one for 23 years (I’m 24, to put things into perspective).
Seriously. Even with school the next day, Sundays were my favorite.
I would get my homework done bright and early, because no kid wanted to think about algebra while the Patriots were on.
My grandfather liked to drive over every Sunday morning, too, and we’d go over our predictions for the game. Of course, we’d call each other the next day to brag about whose score was closest.
Then, the No. 12 jersey went on, and it was go-time.
I’d eat wings with my father a half-hour before kickoff, then run up the street at halftime to play catch with my buddies.
We all just wanted to be like Bill, Tom, Gronk, Jules, and the rest of the gang.
So, at noon on Thursday, when Bill took the podium (I heard he loves doing that) to announce his departure from New England, it brought an entirely new meaning to ‘bittersweet.’
And, you know what? I’m not going to get into all of the nonsense.
Should we have kept him? Should we not have? Was it time?
Who cares…
I’m also not going to list out my favorite Bill Belichick moments. We all know what they are, yours are different from mine, and there are 1,000 other articles about that already.
I’m writing as an everyman living in New England.
Like I said, I was born in 1999 – a year before Bill was hired as coach of the Patriots.
I don’t know the NFL without Bill as my head coach (yes, we New England fans think we’re on the team).
And six Super Bowl wins later, those games are, actually, not what I’m thinking about.
I’m thinking about the time spent with friends, family, and even strangers (we all went nuts after a touchdown, so it was fine).
We all bonded about grown men throwing a brown oval (ovals that weren’t deflated, by the way).
During Thursday’s press conference, Bill said, “It’s amazing how far the arm reaches” when it comes to fan support.
It’s true.
Whether it was someone pushing a carriage full of appetizers at the grocery store, someone stuck in line running an errand at 11:45 a.m. before the game, or a parent at Dick’s Sporting Goods buying a jersey to surprise their kid with, life revolved around the Patriots one day of the week.
I thank Bill for that. Without his part in giving us a great football product, we New Englanders would’ve spent our Sundays, like, going to the movies, or something.
Honest question: Outside of New England, what do people do on Sundays from the months of September to February?
At the press conference Thursday, Robert Kraft said, “I will always continue [to] wish him continued success, except when he’s playing our beloved Patriots.”
I couldn’t agree more, and I don’t think Bill would want it any other way.
As for New England’s success on the field, Kraft added, “I think it’s safe to say we exceeded them, thanks to you (Belichick).”
Well, for more than two decades, he exceeded in giving the fans good times, too.
Bill, I’m sure a million fans have posted these words on social media already, but here they come again.
Thank you.
