Minutes before Sunday night’s win over the Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick took a moment to shake hands with a special guest: 102-year-old veteran Norman Tache.
Tache, who served in World War II, was the Patriots honorary captain for the game. NFL Films cameras captured his meeting with Belichick.
“We were hoping to meet you,” Tache said, “and I’m glad we did.”
Belichick, whose father spent decades as a coach and scout at Navy, often expresses his appreciation for the military. He did so again Tuesday when asked about the significance of this Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans, which falls on Veterans Day.
“As they say, Veterans Day, Memorial Day — those are the holidays that make all of the other holidays possible,” Belichick said on a conference call with reporters. “Without the sacrifices that people have made ahead of us and the ones that are currently making them today for us, we wouldn’t even be playing these games or having any holidays or anything else. Certainly recognizing those men and women in our armed services and the sacrifices that they’ve made, we’ll do that. We always do it.
“The (NFL’s) Salute to Service (campaign) was a great thing last weekend, and then the actual Veterans Day holiday itself coming this weekend. We’ll certainly talk about that. We have a veteran on our team, which is pretty special, too. I think everybody appreciates the sacrifices that (long snapper Joe Cardona) has made and continues to make as part of the reserves. Many of us have family members that have served or are serving throughout the organization. It’s a very important day for me, for our team and really for our country.”
