Asante Samuel Clarifies — But Doesn’t Walk Back — Bill Belichick Shade

Asante Samuel isn’t hiding from a Bill Belichick take of his that made waves earlier this week.

The former New England Patriots defensive back used the team’s release of Cam Newton as an opportunity to shade Belichick as just another coach.

Of course, that is a highly debatable take, one Samuel defended Wednesday on ESPN’s “First Take.” He clarified what he was saying, but didn’t rescind his criticism of Belichick.

“In my head, being that I’ve been part of the situation, I played for the Patriots, I was there young with Tom and everything, in my head this is a competition between Tom Brady and Belichick,” Samuel said. “Tom Brady has already showed that he can win wherever he goes — through adversity, through a pandemic, getting kicked off fields, barely even having any practice — I didn’t expect him to win the Super Bowl, and he won the Super Bowl. So now, what I’m saying is anybody can coach Tom and win a Super Bowl, so now, in my eyes, in my competitive head, in order to be great, in my opinion, you have to show that you can do that without that person.

“He hasn’t showed that he is a great coach to me because he had the greatest player of all time.”

Samuel also noted there is no beef between him and Belichick, but he routinely takes swipes at the Patriots and their coach.

There’s no disputing that Brady helped his case massively in the Brady vs. Belichick debate by winning a Super Bowl in his first year with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But to say that makes Belichick just another coach is, well, a leap.