In an excellent column on Yahoo! Sports, Dan Wetzel describes Bill Belichick’s contrarian nature and how it spreads to what he wears and doesn’t wear, including the somewhat controversial decision to forego wearing camouflage last weekend during the NFL’s Salute to Service. It wasn’t that Belichick doesn’t support the military (he’s a huge supporter; his father coached at Navy, he takes his team to visit the wounded soldiers at Walter Reed when the Pats are in Washington, etc.) it’s likely because he doesn’t like being told what to wear or believing he needs some gear to prove his patriotism. It’s jut Bill being Bill. Tell him to jump, he’ll say no.
In the column, Wetzel also explains Belichick’s normal wardrobe — the famed cut-off sweatshirt that makes him look like he’s about to ask you for change or explain some conspiracy theory about deflated footballs and a team’s fumbling rate:
But the outfitter stuff is just plan petulant. Here’s a man, who gets paid millions of dollars to coach a game almost completely because of advertisers (who drive up TV deals which drives up team revenues which drives up Belichick’s salary) and Belichick can’t heed a simple request to show a Reebok logo or Nike swoosh. Refusing to wear pink because it’s pointless is fine. Refusing to wear a swoosh is biting the hand that feeds you. It’s not a principled stand, it’s the move of a petulant child.
Belichick wore relatively, logo-less (as far as I can tell) clothes when he was at Cleveland, but did pop on a big Starter jackets when it was cold.
I get that he’d rather wear what he wants, but I imagine 80% of America would prefer to wear something different to the workplace. Sometimes we have to do things we don’t like, especially when it’s part of your job and even more especially when that job pays you millions per year.
At the end of the day, does it matter Belichick is wearing a cut-off? Of course not. Other than Nike execs, I can’t think of anyone who’d be affected by this. But when Bill Belichick does this, it’s not a principled stand, it’s a grown man of 63 being defiant for no reason other than his own ego. It’s pathetic and his refusal to conform to even the simplest request speaks volumes as to how the Patriots have conducted themselves as an organization since Belichick took over.
In the column, Wetzel also explains Belichick’s normal wardrobe — the famed cut-off sweatshirt that makes him look like he’s about to ask you for change or explain some conspiracy theory about deflated footballs and a team’s fumbling rate:
According to sources through the years, after Reebok inked a reported $250 million deal as the official outfitter of the NFL in the early 2000s, one of the tenets of the contract was that coaches would wear their gear.
Belichick rejected the concept on principle, arguing that some NFL executive in New York shouldn’t be telling grown men how to dress. He’s a coach, not a fashion model, after all, and the whole thing felt ridiculous.
That didn’t mean he could ignore it forever, so when presented with all of the acceptable items to wear, Belichick purposefully chose what he believed was the least fashionable choice … the humble grey hoodie. He soon even chopped the sleeves off of it, often with crooked and sloppy cuts, perhaps in an effort to make it less attractive.
When you read the column and realize why Belichick doesn’t wear the pink ribbons or the camo headsets (a modern-day Kramer), you think of him as a man of principle. And I don’t disagree with that. He’s taking a stand. It’s like the frivolity of politicans wearing an American flag. Applying something to your lapel doesn’t prove your love of your country, it proves you’re able to procure, then wear, a pin. Belichick’s trips to Walter Reed are infinitely more impressive, important and meaningful than wearing something on your clothing.That didn’t mean he could ignore it forever, so when presented with all of the acceptable items to wear, Belichick purposefully chose what he believed was the least fashionable choice … the humble grey hoodie. He soon even chopped the sleeves off of it, often with crooked and sloppy cuts, perhaps in an effort to make it less attractive.
But the outfitter stuff is just plan petulant. Here’s a man, who gets paid millions of dollars to coach a game almost completely because of advertisers (who drive up TV deals which drives up team revenues which drives up Belichick’s salary) and Belichick can’t heed a simple request to show a Reebok logo or Nike swoosh. Refusing to wear pink because it’s pointless is fine. Refusing to wear a swoosh is biting the hand that feeds you. It’s not a principled stand, it’s the move of a petulant child.
Belichick wore relatively, logo-less (as far as I can tell) clothes when he was at Cleveland, but did pop on a big Starter jackets when it was cold.
I get that he’d rather wear what he wants, but I imagine 80% of America would prefer to wear something different to the workplace. Sometimes we have to do things we don’t like, especially when it’s part of your job and even more especially when that job pays you millions per year.
At the end of the day, does it matter Belichick is wearing a cut-off? Of course not. Other than Nike execs, I can’t think of anyone who’d be affected by this. But when Bill Belichick does this, it’s not a principled stand, it’s a grown man of 63 being defiant for no reason other than his own ego. It’s pathetic and his refusal to conform to even the simplest request speaks volumes as to how the Patriots have conducted themselves as an organization since Belichick took over.
