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FOXBOROUGH, Mass .– New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick has won six Super Bowls as a head coach and two more as an assistant coach with the New York Giants, so he’s no shortage of accomplishments. noteworthy during his 46 seasons in the NFL. But one achievement he ranks among his greatest falls into another category: his escape from the New York Jets in 2000.
“It was one of not only the most defining moments, but also one of the highlights of my career,” Belichick said Tuesday in his weekly WEEI interview in Boston. “This combined with Robert [Kraft] giving me the opportunity to come here, I couldn’t have asked for more. “
Belichick’s comments came after learning that ESPN’s Monday night football show about the Patriots’ 30-27 win over the Jets included a flashback to the press conference in which he resigned in as “HC of the NYJ,” which paved the way for him to come to New England in a trade that included the Jets receiving a first-round pick.
“It wasn’t a good situation for me and I didn’t want to be a part of it, so I wasn’t,” Belichick said Tuesday in the radio interview. “The other half was Robert who gave me the opportunity to come [to New England]. The trading, he gave up a bit for me to come here, it was a big business. I am very grateful that it worked.
“I appreciate all the support from Robert, the Kraft family, the Patriots organization and all the New England fans. I will continue to try to do my best for this team and this organization, giving my best. I’m very grateful for the opportunity to come here and I just wasn’t going to stay there in this situation. “
Belichick’s cold feelings about the Jets and how things turned out after Bill Parcells stepped down after the 1999 season and pushed Belichick into the limelight as his eventual successor are well documented. This story includes 2006 when his former assistant Eric Mangini left the Patriots to coach the Jets, and a year later the Jets whistled the Patriots video practices during a game in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Icy feelings persisted. Ahead of a Patriots game against the Cleveland Browns in 2013, when Belichick was asked if he still felt a connection with the Browns from his days as a 1991-95 head coach, he said it wasn’t ‘was no different from previous teams he had worked for, saying, “I feel the Jets differently. We won’t put them in that category.”
In 2017, during joint training with the Houston Texans, Belichick was speaking with reporters about his relationship with assistant Romeo Crennel when he said, “Romeo and I started out together for the Giants on special teams, we worked together with the Patriots, then another team, then back with the Patriots in 2001. “
Of course, that other team was the Jets from 1997 to 1999.
Meanwhile, in his first 20 seasons with the Patriots, Belichick had made a trade with every team in the NFL – except the Jets. That ice finally melted in September 2019 when Belichick dispatched veteran wide receiver Demaryius Thomas to the Jets for a sixth round pick.
“I would say there was a period of time that this transaction could not have happened,” Belichick said at the time. “But, during other times, yes. We don’t want to help the Jets, they don’t want to help us, we’re in the same division. These aren’t the easiest trades to do, but if the trade is good for both teams, ultimately what we’re trying to do is improve our team. “
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