Watching Bill Belichick address the media is something that’s rivaled only by watching paint dry, but apparently there are quite a few people with a strong desire to watch paint dry nowadays. Brian Billick isn’t one of them.
Billick, an NFL analyst who spent nine seasons coaching the Ravens from 1999 to 2007, doesn’t see what all the fuss is about when it comes to Belichick’s handling of the media. Yet the Patriots coach has taken some heat since New England lost to Baltimore in the AFC Championship on Sunday, largely because he refused to conduct a postgame interview with CBS following the defeat.
The most vocal opponent of Belichick’s refusal is CBS analyst and former NFL tight end Shannon Sharpe, who labeled Belichick a “poor sport” and who called the coach’s postgame actions “unacceptable.” Billick, however, thinks everyone needs to relax.
“Let this thing go, guys,” Billick said in a video on FOXSports. com. “This is the way he rolls, this is what he’s about. I want you to take the clip from last year’s AFC championship game where they won and look at his postgame news conference, then I want you to look at the one he did [Sunday], turn the sound off, and look at the two. It’s the same thing. This is what this guy’s about. It’s what he’s about. It’s his personality. It’s not going to change. You can’t fault the guy for being true to his personality. And when he does finally say something, we rip him for not saying something interesting, he says the same thing. . . . Quit ripping him for being who he is.”
Belichick hasn’t changed his demeanor throughout his entire career, and that has opened him up to plenty of criticism over the years. With that in mind, it’s probably safe to assume he’s OK with Billick’s “take me or leave me” approach.
