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When Bill Belichick reached for and briefly grabbed the arm of an official following Sunday night's loss to Baltimore, all he really wanted was an explanation -- or so he said.
The decision to make contact with the referee will likely lead to a fine and possible suspension for Belichick, but there's nothing wrong with asking for clarification. Unfortunately for the anti-social model of stoicism, Belichick's problem wasn't that he wanted an explanation -- it's that he felt he deserved one; that it was owed to him.
Coach Belichick has been overanalyzed, misunderstood, and underappreciated his entire NFL head coaching career. The son of Steve Belichick, Bill was watching and breaking down football film with his dad since he was in elementary school. Steve, who spent a significant part of his career as a football scout, literally wrote the book on football scouting methods.
Few doubt the football knowledge and situational genius of Bill Belichick. But for every strategic on-field advantage orchestrated by the coach there is an unappreciative too-good-for-this press conference moment. And for each perfectly structured personnel grouping to build a dynasty there has been a Spygate scandal.
The NFL is America's most popular sport which thrives on support of fans fueled by connections to personalities within the game. If it was up to Bill Belichick, professional football would be played in a dark basement away from cameras and lights. It would be fought on a sheet of paper or a board atop a table with pawns, void of emotions.
To him, football is a game meant for great minds -- the best of which excel at the strategy involved in structuring a team. Spectators only get in the way.
The problem with Bill Belichick is that he's smarter than the rest of us when it comes to football. There's no way we could know what he knows about the game and we're an insult to his intelligence.
But the biggest issue with the coach is that his game is our NFL. Bill Belichick wants to have his cake and eat it too, but if he continues to show disgust towards the media and entitlement with officials he'll continue to find himself with a plate full of something worse.
The problem with Bill Belichick is that he's due for a serving of crow. Perhaps the bitter taste of a Ravens defeat will suffice.
Sound Off: Should Bill Belichick be suspended for grabbing an NFL official? Does the genius of the coach outweigh his abrasive personality?
Justin Mikels is a staff writer for Operation Sports. Follow him on Twitter: @long_snapper
# 2
iamaballa @ Sep 25
When you have a game that was as poorly officiated as that one, your emotions tend to get the better of you. The emotion from being up by 9 to losing on what seemed to be a borderline field goal made must have been running strong there. Obviously what he did there was off limits, but the refs called a shoddy game and usually took their time to huddle and try to make the right call when they could. When they made the call for a good FG, everyone just started celebrating and leaving the field. I guess Belichick was stunned that this play was let go so easily without any clarification by the refs. To let such a poorly officiated game end so borderline and with no explanation was a bit insulting to him.
# 3
Bmore Irish 69 @ Sep 25
the field goal call was the right one, if the ball is over top of the upright, then it is good, thats clearly stated in the rules. as for all the other bad calls, thats entirely on the NFL executive office.
Bellichick should've been afforded an explanation there, it's the least the refs could do in that situation, especially when that seems to be the only rule they can really interpret correctly. someone in the booth looked at that to make sure it was over, and not outside of, the upright, and that's it. the reviewability is different now, after the game in 2007 when the raven's lost in ot after a similarly questionable field goal call for the browns in the final seconds.
Bellichick should've been afforded an explanation there, it's the least the refs could do in that situation, especially when that seems to be the only rule they can really interpret correctly. someone in the booth looked at that to make sure it was over, and not outside of, the upright, and that's it. the reviewability is different now, after the game in 2007 when the raven's lost in ot after a similarly questionable field goal call for the browns in the final seconds.
# 4
Bmore Irish 69 @ Sep 25
correction, my bad that play is not reviewable because it went over the uprights, all the more reason for belichick to be given at least a brief explanation. as simple as "the play is not reviewable"
# 5
oliveira311 @ Sep 25
Good read. I'm from New England and I'm obviously biased to a certain degree on Bellichick. I think what happens is we all think that how our current teams do things, or how they act, is the right way. The moment someone else does it differently and succeeds, we don't like it. We want other teams to fail and we jump on the opportunity to criticize them. Kind of like Lebron. We love finding reasons to hate him, right? (I'm actually starting to give him a chance lately)
Anyways, we get both ends of the spectrum's here in New England; Doc Rivers - great with the media and insightful. Bellichick, is the complete opposite but he's proven over time that he is a great coach and he has an excellent system in place to not only succeed in the short term, but also for years to come.
What must really p1ss people off about him, is that he doesn't give you an inch, share any insider information or kiss any babies. He just cares about winning - and I love watching the Patriots because they always have a chance to win.
But hey, "it is what it is."
Anyways, we get both ends of the spectrum's here in New England; Doc Rivers - great with the media and insightful. Bellichick, is the complete opposite but he's proven over time that he is a great coach and he has an excellent system in place to not only succeed in the short term, but also for years to come.
What must really p1ss people off about him, is that he doesn't give you an inch, share any insider information or kiss any babies. He just cares about winning - and I love watching the Patriots because they always have a chance to win.
But hey, "it is what it is."
# 6
Greatness @ Sep 25
Should Bill Belichick be suspended for grabbing an NFL official? Does the genius of the coach outweigh his abrasive personality? Yes, to the first question and no to the second question.
# 7
JerseySuave4 @ Sep 25
As a Pats fan and a football coach myself who's read a lot about Bill as a coach and his life story it's not that he thinks he's smarter than everyone else. He's actually great to listen to if you ask him the right questions. He does not enjoy having to talk to the media. He is a defensive coordinator still at heart, the guy who sits at the complex game planning. He does not care for the attention like other coaches.
It does come from that military family where you are taught to just do your job and it's about the group not the individual. I think he doesn't think some of the people asking him the questions know the game but I don't think he feels he's some genius who is on another level than everyone else when it comes to football.
Couple years ago I took a sports journalism class taught by one of the sportswriters in NJ. He taught us about asking the right questions. Some of the kids in the class were idiots and still young (I was finishing up) so they asked vague questions and he'd give us simple answers as a response. I had to cover a Rutgers football game for my final story and I sat in on Schiano's postgame press conference. They had just lost a Homecoming Game to Tulane. The mood in the room was somber to say the least before he walked in. When he came in, he gave his report, opened it up for questions and it was short and sweet. Didn't spend too much time going into depth because you could tell he was frustrated. I know that feeling as a coach myself.
People don't realize that the last thing these guys want to do after they spent their entire week working for those 60 minutes is to answer a bunch of questions. Are they obligated, yes? But it doesn't mean he has to be engaging and be up there as long as other coaches.
There are interviews out there with Bill where Bill will talk football. He's a good listen to hear him talk football. I've been lucky enough to meet him when he was at Rutgers, his kid played lax there. The guy just does not seek the spotlight. He does not get pleasure from having to do postgame interviews. He can be as moody and grumpy as you or me. But he also has a sense of humor that those in his circle get to see.
I do think he should be fined because you can't do nothing to him even though I think he deserves nothing. The refs owed him at least an explanation with why it couldn't be reviewed, even if Bill didn't know that FGs above the bar can't be reviewed. They owe him the explanation. Then when he tried to get one they just ran the hell out of there.
There is no accountability with these replacements, there is no communication. Last night you have one ref signal touchdown and the other signal touchback and neither looked at each other, got together and communicated. It was like Rock beats Paper so Touchdown beats Touchback. Then the game got out of control fast, there were people all over the place, the field, the endzone. And there was no way in hell they were going to overturn anything for fear of riot at home. These refs are star struck and are intimidated by the fans and players. They have no control. They are in over their heads.
There is no way i think he deserves a suspension. He did nothing malicious and anyone saying he deserves a suspension just flat out doesn't like Bill Belichick. If you think he deserves a suspension you need to ask yourself, if you're a head coach for a visiting team who has had terrible calls all night called on you, and you see a last second FG go over the bar and not clearly through it, and all scoring plays are supposed to be reviewed but they are just saying kick good, game over and running off the field, don't you think you would deserve an explanation for what is going on? And if they are running away from you don't you need to catch up with the refs to find out what is going on?
Especially where he's experienced firsthand where they made him come back out to re-finish a game. They need to fine him $30-50k and get a deal done with these real refs.
It's a shame so many players and coaches are getting fined for the league covering up their f**k up.
It does come from that military family where you are taught to just do your job and it's about the group not the individual. I think he doesn't think some of the people asking him the questions know the game but I don't think he feels he's some genius who is on another level than everyone else when it comes to football.
Couple years ago I took a sports journalism class taught by one of the sportswriters in NJ. He taught us about asking the right questions. Some of the kids in the class were idiots and still young (I was finishing up) so they asked vague questions and he'd give us simple answers as a response. I had to cover a Rutgers football game for my final story and I sat in on Schiano's postgame press conference. They had just lost a Homecoming Game to Tulane. The mood in the room was somber to say the least before he walked in. When he came in, he gave his report, opened it up for questions and it was short and sweet. Didn't spend too much time going into depth because you could tell he was frustrated. I know that feeling as a coach myself.
People don't realize that the last thing these guys want to do after they spent their entire week working for those 60 minutes is to answer a bunch of questions. Are they obligated, yes? But it doesn't mean he has to be engaging and be up there as long as other coaches.
There are interviews out there with Bill where Bill will talk football. He's a good listen to hear him talk football. I've been lucky enough to meet him when he was at Rutgers, his kid played lax there. The guy just does not seek the spotlight. He does not get pleasure from having to do postgame interviews. He can be as moody and grumpy as you or me. But he also has a sense of humor that those in his circle get to see.
I do think he should be fined because you can't do nothing to him even though I think he deserves nothing. The refs owed him at least an explanation with why it couldn't be reviewed, even if Bill didn't know that FGs above the bar can't be reviewed. They owe him the explanation. Then when he tried to get one they just ran the hell out of there.
There is no accountability with these replacements, there is no communication. Last night you have one ref signal touchdown and the other signal touchback and neither looked at each other, got together and communicated. It was like Rock beats Paper so Touchdown beats Touchback. Then the game got out of control fast, there were people all over the place, the field, the endzone. And there was no way in hell they were going to overturn anything for fear of riot at home. These refs are star struck and are intimidated by the fans and players. They have no control. They are in over their heads.
There is no way i think he deserves a suspension. He did nothing malicious and anyone saying he deserves a suspension just flat out doesn't like Bill Belichick. If you think he deserves a suspension you need to ask yourself, if you're a head coach for a visiting team who has had terrible calls all night called on you, and you see a last second FG go over the bar and not clearly through it, and all scoring plays are supposed to be reviewed but they are just saying kick good, game over and running off the field, don't you think you would deserve an explanation for what is going on? And if they are running away from you don't you need to catch up with the refs to find out what is going on?
Especially where he's experienced firsthand where they made him come back out to re-finish a game. They need to fine him $30-50k and get a deal done with these real refs.
It's a shame so many players and coaches are getting fined for the league covering up their f**k up.
# 8
JerseySuave4 @ Sep 25
I'm sorry i got my Carroll and Belichick confused, it was Pete who was the coach when the refs brought them back out.
# 9
Sidion @ Sep 25
Good read. I think he's just anti-media. That's why he always looks frumpy, it's why he doesn't say much in the pressers, and it's why when he shows any emotion everyone seems to flip out.
As a Ravens fan I thought it was a bit uncalled for personally. He lost. Instead of handling it, he rushes out (When both teams were coming out to shake hands and move on.) and instead of shaking hands with the coaches and players... Tries to get an explanation from a ref.
At that point the game was over. No explanation was due. Why didn't he just go home after being a good sport, and the next day call the front office for his explanation?
I think all the coaches and players are realizing you can intimidate these officials into giving you what you want (Bad calls, game winning decisions.) When you're in a game abusing them as such, it's going to be pretty hard to just shut it off once the game ends. Respect and all that stuff you know?
As a Ravens fan I thought it was a bit uncalled for personally. He lost. Instead of handling it, he rushes out (When both teams were coming out to shake hands and move on.) and instead of shaking hands with the coaches and players... Tries to get an explanation from a ref.
At that point the game was over. No explanation was due. Why didn't he just go home after being a good sport, and the next day call the front office for his explanation?
I think all the coaches and players are realizing you can intimidate these officials into giving you what you want (Bad calls, game winning decisions.) When you're in a game abusing them as such, it's going to be pretty hard to just shut it off once the game ends. Respect and all that stuff you know?
# 10
keator @ Sep 25
I loved Bill's explanation on Monday when he said he had never been penalized by the league bc in Bill's eye's spygate never happened.
# 11
JerseySuave4 @ Sep 25
He did shake hands with Harbaugh though, he was looking for an explanation first. I think we all would if we were in his shoes. As a coach you're not just going to let that play out without getting an explanation.
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As for his disdain for the media...that's a tough one. I find it amusing, but there is no reason for it. It won't make him prepare any less and it does nothing for his coaching legacy. He's a football savant, but the whole one word answer press conferences are too much.