00:00Bill Belichick has felt the need to clarify the comments that were made by Robert Kraft today
00:07in speaking with ESPN, I believe, Shyam.
00:11That's correct, Greg.
00:12If you thought there was any kind of olive branch being extended, you would be wrong.
00:18Bill Belichick went out of his way to reach out to ESPN and commented on this.
00:23We need the full length of the comments, please.
00:27You got it.
00:28If you could.
00:28All right.
00:28Quote, as I told Robert multiple times through the years, I took a big risk by taking the New England Patriots head coaching job.
00:37I already had an opportunity to be the head coach of the New York Jets, but the ownership situation was unstable.
00:45I had been warned by multiple previous Patriots coaches, as well as other members of other NFL organizations and the media,
00:53that the New England job was going to come with many internal obstacles.
00:57I made it clear that we would have to change the way the team was managed to regain the previously attained success.
01:05Wow.
01:10He's not wrong.
01:12I mean, we talked about it when we played it during They Said It.
01:16It's Robert Kraft wanting to take full credit for Bill Belichick.
01:20And I don't know that he deserves full credit for everything that Bill Belichick did.
01:27So I don't mind Bill, I mean, reaching out to ESPN and wanting to clarify the record as soon as you hear the comments is, I guess, could be a little petty.
01:39At least this goes to show you there will be no Bill Belichick statue.
01:45There will be a statue.
01:46There's no way there is.
01:48He's definitely not coming to the Tom Brady statue.
01:49No, he's not going to the Tom Brady statue.
01:51There's no way he's getting a statue.
01:53But think about this from Bill's perspective for a minute.
01:56Because we talked about these comments last week, and I said, I feel like that's a little bit of a shot.
02:02Because it makes it sound from what Kraft says, like Bill was this guy who was so on the outs after what happened in Cleveland that he's like some guy that nobody wants to touch.
02:13Couldn't get a job.
02:14And so he takes this huge risk, like it's so crazy to hire Bill Belichick.
02:19And in reality, he was already a head coach somewhere else.
02:22Like he had already gotten another shot after Cleveland from another franchise within the division.
02:28So I can understand how Bill would be defensive about how that's portrayed.
02:32So I have to ask a question.
02:33And I have to ask the question.
02:35Because this is not something normally we would think Bill Belichick would do.
02:41How much is this influenced by his girlfriend?
02:44Because she seems to be one who has no problem at clapping back.
02:49So you think she's in his ear saying, hey.
02:51I have to ask the question.
02:53Did you hear what Robert Kraft said about you today?
02:55He's taking all the credit for your success.
02:58I have to ask the question just because this is not something in previous years that Bill would do.
03:03He would not seek out ESPN to give them a quote saying that he also took a risk.
03:09But I think Bill feels burned.
03:11We've talked about this a lot, and I've said this a bunch of times, but I'll repeat it.
03:15I think he feels burned by the way in which the exit happened because I think he agreed, as a classy individual would, to describe that as a mutual parting of the ways.
03:31And to have some glad handing and a happy-go-lucky end of the 10-year press conference.
03:40And it wasn't that long afterward that Robert Kraft went on with Charlemagne the God and said, I fired Bill Belichick.
03:49And the dynasty came out.
03:49It wasn't that long afterward that the dynasty came out.
03:52So I think he has every right to stand up for himself and the reputation if these things are going to continue to be said that don't put him in the positive light that he deserves to be put in.
04:05And Curtis would disagree with me if Curtis were here, but I feel strongly about that the same way I feel strongly about the fact that without Tom Brady, Bill Belichick wouldn't have done what he did.
04:22And without Bill Belichick, Tom Brady wouldn't have been able to do as much as he did.
04:26Right.
04:26But I think it's more of like when you – and this is why I always talk about the Kraft-Belichick relationship.
04:33It is very like, you know, strained in the sense that when Bill left, it was a lot of just like negativity and trash being thrown Bill's way.
04:51You know, how difficult of a coach he was to work with.
04:55And, you know, whether if you're a player or if you were in the front office or you were a coach,
04:59it was a lot of that rather than, man, he was – it was a privilege to have this guy for 20 years
05:08and what he was able to accomplish as a coach and, you know, and the documentary being look what he was able to do
05:15and, you know, all these different facets of this dynastic run and the issues that he had
05:24and to deal with and deal with and off the field and on the field.
05:27It's not necessary either.
05:29Like, it's just a waste of time if you're the New England Patriots.
05:33Like, you don't have to besmirch the guy.
05:37Like, what Bill Belichick did here in the organization is not in any way, shape, or form a negative
05:46when you give him credit for doing what he did.
05:49Like, it doesn't –
05:50Right, but I think a lot of the problem with this, and this is just me from being an outsider's perspective
05:57and kind of –
05:58You're an insider.
05:59But an insider –
06:00You're there on the inside.
06:01Right, and I think part of my perspective is everybody wants to claim the reason why we were good was because of me.
06:10Yeah, it's the success has many fathers, failure is an orphan.
06:15Right, and everybody wants that claim.
06:17Well, you're forced into doing that when, you know, no offense, you're not that good
06:22and haven't been that good for a while.
06:24So you're forced into going back and looking at the glory days and then trying to –
06:30The member berries.
06:31The member berries.
06:32Yeah, and then trying to take credit for it.
06:34Like, it just – they assembled a, you know, top to bottom for a good period of time,
06:41an unbelievable group of coaches, of players, of people that were around them who were wildly successful.
06:50It's the sum of all the parts, and there's nothing – you're not diminishing what you put into it,
06:57what your role was, by giving credit to other people.
07:00What they have to do now is go to Brady and say, who took the bigger risk in that relationship?
07:06Was it Bill or Kraft?
07:07I mean, Tom –
07:08And he'll be the tiebreaker.
07:10Tom Brady has generally stayed out of this, which I give him a lot of credit for.
07:15Like, because he's asked about it, and he gives credit to everybody.
07:18Like, it's just – it's so petty, it's stupid.
07:22Well, he's busy.
07:23He's got some yacht dates to go to.
07:25He's got some weddings to go to.
07:26But he also – Tom is calculated, because what he does, he stays out of it.
07:32But then he'll say, like, it's about the players.
07:36The players are the ones that win championship.
07:39Bill used to say that.
07:40No, no, I know that.
07:41I'm getting dragged for saying that Bill Belichick has been classy in this.
07:45I don't know.
07:47He's not the one that made a documentary to recount his days on the team.
07:52No, no, but Bill has come across as, like, he hasn't done a documentary,
07:56but if you look at some of Bill's interviews and some of the things,
08:00he does come across as, like, all right, well, I'm the one who built this thing here.
08:05And this is how I built it, and this is the way we built it.
08:07I'm the one who drafted Brady.
08:09So I get Robert going, well –
08:11Well, he is.
08:11And I agree with that, but I get Robert going, well, I'm the one who hides.
08:15And doesn't he have a, like, a leg to stand on, Wiggy, when it comes to reacting?
08:20Like, it's not like he's the one originally doing all this and trying to claim that he's the reason that the Patriots dynasty existed.
08:27He felt like he was getting disregarded and felt like he needed to reassert himself.
08:32Right, and a lot of it is also because, Megal, when you hear people like this,
08:38a lot of the times they don't sound genuine when they try to say it was a group effort.
08:45Who are you talking about, Bill?
08:46I'm talking about all of them.
08:47Just in general.
08:48Just in general.
08:49Like, when, you know, sometimes when you hear Robert, you hear Bill, you hear Tom,
08:52like, they don't always sound genuine.
08:53They say, yeah, we – you know, it was a collaborative effort.
08:56I think that's kind of them being PC, but then at times when you kind of hear it and, like, saying, all right,
09:03it seems like it's more about, okay, I was the main reason why we were successful, you know, 80% of it.
09:12And I think that's why, as somebody who was in there and understands how, you know, people at that level,
09:19their egos kind of get in the way, you could tell sometimes it doesn't really sound genuine when they're like,
09:25yeah, we all kind of did it.
09:27Robert was a help, you know.
09:30Tom was great.
09:32Tom would go, yeah, Bill was a great coach, you know, but we still had to go out there as players.
09:38But all that's true.
09:40It is, but it comes across as –
09:41They did all have to do it.
09:42Like, nobody deserves single credit for what the – for the dynasty.
09:48Like, it's impossible to give full credit to anybody.
09:51It's all so petty, dude.
09:53Like, you guys won six titles.
09:55Who cares who was the impetus behind all of it?
09:58Like, it's just – you guys accomplished something amazing?
10:01Like, revel in that.
10:03Like, relish that.
10:04Don't, like, just throw stones at each other.
10:07But there are people, when their egos or they get to that level,
10:11that sometimes those egos get in the way and it's, you know,
10:15it doesn't sound genuine for them to do it.
10:17There are other guys who say, listen, man, we all had a role in this, you know.
10:21I bust people's chops all the time and say, you know what, if it wasn't for Tom –
10:25I mean, if it wasn't for my snow game performance, you –
10:28Oh, here we go.
10:28That's true.
10:28You were a part of it.
10:29Yeah.
10:30But I know at the end –
10:31You were a part of it.
10:31I know at the end of the day, I played a small, specific role
10:35in helping the team win a championship.
10:37Yeah.
10:38You know, and I know what my role is.
10:40But when you get to a higher level and you're, like, more of the reasoning why,
10:46I think sometimes the ego gets in the way.
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