Sorry, Patriots Fans: Bill Belichick Apparently Buddies With Roger Goodell

Bill Belichick and Tom Brady: not best buddies

Bill Belichick and Roger Goodell: different story, apparently.

By now, you know the issues Patriots fans have with Goodell. In addition to the Spygate controversy (on which Belichick arguably got off easy), Goodell notoriously went hard after Brady for his alleged role in Deflategate. However, neither of those sandals prevented Belichick and Goodell from developing a close relationship.

ESPN on Wednesday shared a preview for Seth Wickersham’s upcoming book, “It’s Better to Be Feared: The New England Patriots Dynasty and the Pursuit of Greatness.” The story contains more than a few newsworthy tidbits.

Among them, these excerpts on Belichick and Goodell:

Belichick and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell had a much closer relationship than previously known and once met secretly in a New England airplane hangar to discuss rule changes — even as aides unsuccessfully pleaded with Goodell to drop the Deflategate inquiry, worried about the long-term damage to the league brand.

…

Even though Goodell has heavily punished the Patriots three times for rules violations, he has become close with Belichick. Besides the secret meeting at a private airport to discuss rule changes, on the morning after the Patriots’ Super Bowl win over the Falcons, Belichick hugged Goodell and lifted the commissioner’s feet off the ground.

So, either Belichick truly likes Goodell, or the Patriots coach is putting “keep your friends close, but your enemies closer” into practice.

We’ll learn much more about Belichick, Brady, Goodell and Robert Kraft when Wickersham’s book releases Oct. 12. For now, you can read more about the preview by clicking the links below.