Bill Belichick squares off against Walter Brown in the first round of Boston’s Biggest Sports Legend tournament.
Since 2000, no NFL team has won as many championships as the Patriots. Then again, no other NFL team has Bill Belichick as its coach. After coming to New England in 2000 to bring the Patriots to the top of the football world, Belichick has been at the helm of three world titles and four Super Bowl appearances. With victories in Super Bowls XXXVI, XXXVIII and XXXIX, Belichick has put himself near the top of the coaching ranks in NFL history and, in the process, has turned the Patriots into the model franchise for the entire league. Named AP NFL Coach of the Year in 2003 and 2007, Belichick led the Patriots to an undefeated regular season in 2007 and their fourth Super Bowl appearance in seven years, a feat deemed improbable in the salary-capped NFL. Under Belichick, the Patriots have gone 116-45 (.720) in the regular season and 15-4 (.789) in the postseason.
What did Walter Brown do? A better question might be: What didn’t Walter Brown do? The Massachusetts native founded the Boston Celtics in 1945, and six years later, he bought the Boston Bruins. He was an instrumental part of seven NBA championships for the Celtics, and the NBA’s championship trophy was named after him following his death in 1964. The Celtics also retired No. 1 in Brown’s honor. He was just as influential in hockey at the amateur and professional levels. The home of Boston University hockey from 1971-2005 was named in his honor, and the award that annually honors the best Division I hockey player in New England bears his name. Brown was inducted to both the Hockey Hall of Fame and Basketball Hall of Fame following his death. While he’s not a household name in many New England sports homes, he should be.
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