A must-watch documentary for all football fans is coming to television screens Feb. 1. It will be especially enthralling for those who follow the New England Patriots, because it features Bill Belichick as you’ve never seen him before.
The ESPN film is entitled “30 for 30: The Two Bills” and documents the relationship between Belichick and former NFL head coach Bill Parcells, who worked together from 1981 to 1990 with the New York Giants and again from 1996 to 1999 with the Patriots and New York Jets.
The documentary details the rise, fall and rebirth of the relationship between the two coaches, and in it former Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor reveals Belichick’s fitting nickname from the 1980s: “Doom.”
“We used to call him Doom, because every time he walked around it was end of the world,” Taylor said. “‘Ah, you didn’t make this play. Ah, you didn’t go over here.’ Everything was end of the world. …
“Bill Parcells used to call him Doom, so we caught on to that,” Taylor said.
Romeo Crennel, who worked with Belichick in New York and New England, said Belichick didn’t mind the nickname.
“Belichick, looking at the negative side and preparing for the negative has made him a better football coach, because he prepares for all the things that can go bad,” Romeo Crennel said. “And to tell you the truth, I think he kind of halfway liked the idea that people were calling him Doom, because that way, he didn’t have to be nice to anybody.”
Belichick does seem at least a little more positive as he’s grown older.
The film also features an extremely rare picture of Belichick with facial hair, which you can check out for yourself here.
“30 for 30: The Two Bills” airs Feb. 1 at 9 p.m. on ESPN, which is a good time for the network to air the documentary, as the Patriots play the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII on Feb. 4.
