FOXBORO, Mass. — Before fielding — and, for the most part, not answering — questions about the 2019 New England Patriots on Wednesday, head coach Bill Belichick first shared his thoughts on an exciting project that’ll hit the NFL Network airwaves this fall.
As part of the NFL’s 100th season celebration, Belichick served as an analyst for “The NFL’s All-Time Team,” a six-part special that will recognize the league’s 100 best players and top 10 coaches. Belichick also was on the 26-person committee that selected the team.
“Just a quick comment on the NFL Top 100 project,” the head coach said during his pre-training camp news conference at Gillette Stadium.. “… I’d just say it was a great honor for me to be a part of the selection process and be a part of the show. There are obviously thousands of great NFL players and coaches, legends, involved in the game, many of whom I’ve watched or observed or studied throughout my entire life.
“So it was a tremendous process. Very difficult in terms of the selection, but it was, again, a great honor to be a part of it and to go down and be at NFL Films and see that operation was extremely impressive.”
Joining Belichick as hosts for the series are Rich Eisen of NFL Network and “Sunday Night Football” analyst Cris Collinsworth. Eisen raved about Belichick’s on-air performance during his DirectTV radio show earlier this week.
“Bill Belichick, as a sports television analyst, is fantastic,” Eisen said. “He is fantastic.”
Belichick, who is entering his 45th season as an NFL coach, is a scholar of football history, often waxing poetic about the game’s roots and development during his Patriots news conferences. He called his opportunity to honor the league’s greats in this way a humbling experience.
“They (at NFL Films) do a great job of preserving the history of the game,” Belichick said. “It’s extremely well run, professional. They have great resources and I think they’ve done a tremendous job in their presentation of the game. Kenny Rodgers, the Sabol family, the entire NFL Films group.
“Just being on set with Cris and Rich was a great honor, a great thrill, and many of the other legends that were there with us. So that was something I’ve never been a part of and was very insightful and certainly gave me a greater appreciation for this great game and what the National Football League has accomplished and the individuals that have written the stories over the last 100 years. It was a great experience for me.”
The premiere date for “The NFL’s All-Time Team” has yet to be announced.
