Fed Up Belichick Lashes Out At Newest Cheating Allegations
BOSTON (CBS) -- Bill Belichick usually blocks out all the outside noise, but as we saw with his Mona Lisa Vito press conference in January, he'll speak up when things get a little too much for him and his Patriots.
That was the case once again on Friday morning, just a few hours after the Patriots began their 2015 season with a 28-21 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The win has not come without its share of controversy, with Steelers coach Mike Tomlin crying foul over some shoddy headsets in the first half. Tomlin couldn't communicate with his coaches, with the Patriots' radio broadcast bleeding into their headsets.
Maybe Tomlin just isn't a fan of Scott Zolak, but the Steelers will be filing a formal complaint with the league over the matter. It's led to a whole new firestorm of cheating allegations sent New England's way, and Belichick is sick of it.
The Patriots head coach made that clear on his Friday morning conference call. He first attacked these newest allegations, dubbed "HeadsetGate" on social media, by saying such things are pretty common. The Patriots actually prepare for such things to happen, just in case it does on any given Sunday.
Belichick then turned his attention to an ESPN Outside The Lines investigation that was posted on Tuesday, drumming up "new" discoveries in the Spygate scandal of 2007. While providing no evidence or proof, the report detailed a long history of "cheating" in New England, from stealing opponents' play sheets from the visitors locker room to, the horror, serving warm Gatorade.
The coach remained silent throughout the week as he prepared for the Steelers, but his blood was boiling Friday morning.
"I think overall it's kind of sad, really, to see some stories written that obviously have an agenda to them with misinformation, anonymous comments. Writing about warm drinks and trash cans, stuff like that. I think it's a sad commentary and really, gone to a pretty low level. Sunk pretty deep," he said.
Belichick can handle the attacks towards him, but what really upset him is the fact people are trying to take away from his players who won three titles with the team.
"First of all, I would say I think our program here is built on competition and trying to improve every day. It's not built on excuses," he said. "We just try to go to work and improve and find a way to get better. This organization has won a lot of games, particular, in reference to the great teams of 2001, 2003, 2004... All the great players that have played on those teams, to take away what those teams accomplished, how good they were, how many great players we had, how well they played in the biggest games, how they consistently showed up and made big plays and game-winning plays -- it's just not right.
"I'm not going to get in a back and forth, but that's just how I feel about it," he concluded.
Belichick listed over 20 players from those teams that he feels are being falsely accused of being anything but great on the football field. It's not too often you see the coach go off on things being said in the media, but he's finally had enough of these allegations -- old and new -- going after not just him but the organization as a whole.
It's all just more fuel for another Super Bowl run.
