The 2013 NFL season was a taxing one for the New England Patriots, and through it all, Bill Belichick had his usual funny and dour moments with the media.
To celebrate Belichick’s 62nd birthday, let’s go through some of the Patriots head coach’s top moments from the past year.
Sept. 23, 2013: Belichick was continuously asked about tight end Rob Gronkowski and wide receiver Danny Amendola’s injuries early in the season. He wouldn’t give the media any information, using the word “inactive” nine times in one news conference.
Oct. 23, 2013: In October, Amendola was hurt again, and Belichick wouldn’t let on how badly the receiver was injured. Amendola had a concussion, but Belichick would only say that “every player has to go through whatever the medical procedures are.”
Nov. 18, 2013: There was a tremendous amount of silence during Belichick’s postgame news conference after the Patriots lost to the Carolina Panthers on a pass interference flag that was picked up during the last moments of the game.
Dec. 4, 2013: Belichick threw some humor into his news conference when asked about his experience coaching the Browns, throwing a jab at the New York Jets.
“I was there for five years,” Belichick told the media about his time in Cleveland. “It was five important years in my life, for myself, my family and all that. Obviously, we’ve all moved on, and I have a job to do here and that’s where my loyalty is, is to Robert (Kraft) and the Patriots organization and this football team. So it’s no different than how I feel, honestly, about the Colts or the Lions or the Broncos. I feel differently about the Jets. We won’t put them in that category.”
Dec. 20, 2013: Belichick was in rare form as the Patriots prepared to play the Baltimore Ravens. He waxed poetic about his relationships with Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome and head coach John Harbaugh. Then he took the team on a field trip to see the movie “Lone Survivor.”
He also was asked to name his favorite Christmas song and declared “actually, I enjoy all of them.”
Jan. 10, 2014: The Wall Street Journal did some research and found that Belichick smiled seven times during postgame news conferences. Check them all out below.
Jan. 20, 2014: Belichick took a shot at former Patriots receiver Wes Welker in the head coach’s final news conference of the season. He called Welker’s hit on Aqib Talib during the Patriots’ AFC Championship Game loss to the Denver Broncos “one of the worst plays I’ve seen.” Talib has since joined the Broncos.
Feb. 7, 2014: Belichick got over the AFC title game loss by heading to Pebble Beach to play some golf with Tom Brady.
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Feb. 14, 2014: The Patriots celebrated Valentine’s Day with some hilarious Belichick-themed cards.
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March 24, 2014: In typical Belichickian fashion, he decided to skip out on the head coaches photo at the NFL Annual Meeting.
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March 25, 2014: Belichick again was questioned about Gronkowski’s health at the NFL Annual Meeting, and he couldn’t believe what he was being asked.
Belichick also proposed some ideas for how the NFL could raise money to buy extra replay cameras.
“We just spent, whatever it was, how many millions of dollars on the replay system,” Belichick said. “I mean, there’s a thousand cameras in every stadium, so that if somebody spills a beer on somebody, we have it on record, right? Maybe we could have a bake sale. Raise some money for the cameras. Do a car wash.”
