No one expected that New England Patriots head coach Bill Belick would apologize at the press conference.
After the team lost 17-27 to the Indianapolis Colts in the last game, Belichik was furious, even by his own standards. The press conference began with his apology: "I didn't have a good attitude towards you after the game. Obviously, the game was frustrating, we were 0-20 behind and we didn't do a good job in any way. ”
Belick went on to look back on the poor performance of the team in the last game, stressing once again that he did not want to provide too many details and explanations. Then he went back to the apology part. "It's not that I don't want to say it, but to be honest, it doesn't have much to say either. It's not up to you, the game itself has nothing to say. ”
After the press conference, some media outlets will win the page with headlines such as "Belichick Shows His Human Side", but this is not the first time he has apologized to the media. He had apologized several times before, most notably in the 2006 season.
In the January 2007 playoffs, the Patriots played at home to the New York Jets, and Belicik, former Patriots assistant coach and then head coach of the New York Jets, had a poor relationship with Eric Mangini. The Jets and Patriots won each of the two regular season games, and after the game both shook hands ceremonially. After the playoffs that attracted the attention of the outside world, everyone was looking forward to what kind of sparks would be rubbed between the two.
The match ended with a 37-16 victory for the Patriots. When the two met in midfield, Belick gave Mangini a big, performanceal hug. Disputeable footage occurs before that. At that time, as usual, there were many photographers and camera crews in the stadium, all of whom were crowded in the middle of the room with media passes. The League also likes to see such noisy scenes.
When Belick needed to squeeze through the crowd toward Mangine, he moved his hand to veteran photojournalist Jim Davis and pushed him aside. Such behavior is extremely impolite, and Beliczck himself knows it, not to mention that the reporter has a camera in his hand and must have relevant photos in his hand. So the next day, Davis received a call from Stacey James, Patriot's vice president of media relations.
On the phone, James told Davis that Belichick wanted to talk to him. But the call was too late, because Davis had just finished talking to Belicick himself, and on the phone, Belicik expressed his sincerest apologies to him.
Beliczck said afterwards: "I really apologize for this, I didn't mean to hit him. I just wanted to push him away and find Eric, which was really not intentional. I wish it hadn't happened. ”
Even so, local Boston media criticized Belick as "the most senior idiot." But Belick didn't care.
Belitchik has long found that Patriots fans love his old-fashioned style of stilting the media, so it seems that similar dramas have become an independent entertainment program over the years. A lot of people know it's not a big deal. But sometimes the play will be overstated, just like after the last game, and belichick will come out and apologize.
After apologizing, life goes on. Belick had his stern side, but he was by no means unsophisticated.