It doesn't help that Robert Kraft seemingly had a role as a producer
It’s rare for any piece of media to receive universal acclaim, but since “The Dynasty” was released on Apple TV+, Patriots fans haven’t been too pleased with Bill Belichick’s portrayal.
Docuseries director Matthew Hamachek admitted he understood why New England fans were mad about the omission of Super Bowl 38 and Super Bowl 39 during the first run of the Patriots’ dynastic period. But the episode focused on Aaron Hernandez caused huge gripes with fans.
Belichick doesn’t offer much insight in general in the docuseries when it comes to the Patriots’ controversies, and he kept that tone when it came to Hernandez, who was convicted of Odin Lloyd’s murder in 2015.
Jonathan Kraft threw the former Patriots head coach under the bus when he claimed Belichick wanted to play the situation out as long as possible rather than release Hernandez on the day he got arrested.
Jeff Benedict wrote “The Dynasty,” which the docuseries is titled and based on, and he felt differently about the claims of the docuseries being a Belichick hit piece.
“There’s a lot of things in this film, in my opinion — there’s a lot of things in the book, that if the Krafts controlled it, you wouldn’t see,” Benedict said on “The Greg Hill Show” on Wednesday, per Audacy’s Mike Kadlick. “I mean some knucklehead even alleged that this was like, a series that was done to help Kraft make a case to get into the Hall of Fame.”
Robert Kraft seems to have had some role in the Apple TV+ docuseries with “Kraft Productions” featured in the credits. Bill Parcells threw in his shots at Kraft in the early episodes of “The Dynasty,” but the Patriots owner comes across as sympathetic when he expresses remorse and regret over how Hernandez’s tenure in New England played out.
Benedict added more on how key Patriots figures were portrayed.
“I think you really have to stick closely to what the people say that were actually there and involved.” Benedict said. “And so, it matters what Ernie Adams says, it matters what the other players that were in the room (say), it matters what Deion Branch said — he’s his neighbor who was probably, of all the players on the team, interacting with Aaron more than anyone else.
“I would be uncomfortable veering away from what we know to be true. And it is true that Aaron did go to Bill and he did express serious concerns about his own physical safety and the safety of the two other individuals in his family … and Bill did offer to bring in the Patriots’ security. And Aaron did not take him up on the offer. Now, everyone takes a hard left and says, ‘Well this is bad for Bill because he didn’t trade him.’ Well, there’s another perspective to that which is, ‘Why didn’t he take Bill up on the offer?’ Why doesn’t anyone ask that?”
The next two episodes of “The Dynasty” premiere this Friday, and you can tune into NESN.com for more coverage of the docuseries.