An Evening with Bill Belichick

, where the Patriots team chose to be announced as a team. Which has become common practice for both teams in the Super Bowl.

To end the evening, Belichick fielded six questions that were previously submitted by Salem State students and one from faculty/staff. They went as follows:

 

1) Who is the most talented athlete you have ever worked with? Why?—Lawrence Taylor. "Coming out of college, at North Carolina, he could run the 40 in 4.6. That's really good for a guy his size." Brady would have to be the best football player though.

 

2) After things didn't work out in Cleveland, were you ever worried that people might think of you as a defensive coordinator not a head coach?—"I didn't get into football to be a head coach. I just love coaching."

 

3) How much of your success is attributed to you knowing someone rather than knowing something; in other words, how does "it's not what you know, it's who you know" pertain to your career?—Belichick agrees with this statement. "Relationships that are based on respect are going to be the most meaningful to you."

4) What was the purpose of drafting Jerod Mayo in the first round of this years NFL Draft, and coach please don't tell us that you couldn't pass on the Mayo?—"We just try to do what is best for our football team." Belichick refers to the incoming rookie as a "four-down player" who is very "versitle."

 

5) Does your uncanny ability to breakdown offenses stem from your patience on the golf course?—"Definitely not. You obviously haven't seen me golf."

 

6) Has the media ever tried to get you to say things that would compromise your image as a head coach?—Coach Belichick says that he meets with the media six times a week, "everyday but Thursday", and that he has "a lot of respect for what they do." He sees the media as the connection between the team and the fans.

 

7) What do you predict for the 2008-09 season?—"We just try and keep short-term focus." He says that there is no need to think about the future. Training camp comes first, and then they take it one game at a time.

 

That was the perfect way for coach Belichick to end this amazing and exciting evening with probably the smartest football mind ever involved in the game. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I am so grateful to have been there for it.

I would just like to thank Jim Glynn of College Relations at Salem State College for allowing me the credentials.

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