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Bill Belichick is on Mount Rushmore of American athletic trainers.
The New England Patriots head coach led the franchise to nine Super Bowls, winning six of them. He won two Super Bowls as a coordinator with the New York Giants. These championships produced some of the most exciting and dramatic moments in football history.
Belichick has known the highest sporting peaks. Among these tops? Leave the New York Jets. That’s according to Belichick, who remained loyal to his former employer on Tuesday, a day after he dramatically beat them on “Monday Night Football.”
The infamous Belichick Jets resignation
Belichick quit his job as head coach of the Jets in 2000 before he even coached a game. He was the team’s defensive coordinator under his mentor Bill Parcells from 1997 to 1999 and was to replace him when Parcells stepped down after the 1999 season.
A day after accepting the job in January 2000, Belichick stepped onto the podium at the Jets headquarters for what was supposed to be his introductory press conference. Instead, it happened.
“Due to the various uncertainties surrounding my position on new team ownership, I have decided to step down as head coach of the New York Jets,” said Belichick.
Three weeks later, the Patriots traded a first-round pick to the Jets to hire Belichick as head coach and the fortunes of two franchises and NFL history were changed forever.
The Patriots have regularly plagued the Jets during their two decades of domination in the AFC East. On Monday, the Patriots recovered from a 10-point halftime deficit to beat the Jets once again, forcing their superiority over their supposed rivals even in a declining year.
Belichick burns Jets on Boston radio
On Tuesday, Belichick spoke to Boston radio station WEEI, and the subject of his resignation was brought up in the conversation. He called his resignation “one of the great moments of my career”.
“One of – not only the most defining – but one of the great moments of my career,” Belichick said. “This combined with Robert [Kraft] giving me the opportunity to come here, I couldn’t have asked for more.
“So it wasn’t a good situation for me, and I didn’t want to be a part of it, so I wasn’t.”
One day after beating the Jets, Bill Belichick was happy to stick it once again to his former employer. (AP Photo / Michael Dwyer, Pool)
Mystery and intrigue have since revolved around the details of the brutal resignation Belichick officially delivered via a hand-scribbled note. Questions remain about what happened behind the scenes, but it is widely believed that the transition of ownership of the team from Leon Hess to Woody Johnson played a big role in Belichick’s decision.
He reiterated to WEEI on Tuesday that the Jets’ “situation” in 2000 was one he wanted nothing to do with.
“I will continue to try to do my best for this team and this organization,” Belichick said. “Give them the best that I can. But I’m very grateful for the opportunity to come here, and I just wasn’t going to stay there in this situation. So it worked.
It certainly worked for Belichick and the Patriots – a fact that Belichick is happy to remind the Jets of at every opportunity.
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