 |
Patriots head coach
Bill Belichick
|
We will probably never again see a Super Bowl won with less individual talent than
possessed by this season’s New England Patriots.
That is not meant to be an insult, because we will probably never again see a Super
Bowl won by a club that better personifies the word "team." That is meant to be
a compliment. The Patriots had the individual talent to be a last-place club. Somehow,
they won the Super Bowl.
The Patriots had the individual talent to get blown out by the high-powered, star-laden
Rams on Super Sunday. Somehow, they pulled off the upset.
The Super Bowl was played indoors on turf. Everyone believed that was a huge edge for
the Rams. Everyone.
Correct that. Everyone outside the Patriots’ organization.
The Patriots proved that titles are not won on turf. They are won on heart. The
Patriots proved that games are not won indoors. They are won in the weight room, in the
film room, in the minds of those who dare to think the unthinkable. In an age of
"SportsCenter" highlights and inflated player egos, the Patriots won a
championship by caring not a single bit who got the credit. What they could not achieve as
53 individuals, they won as one team. During Super Bowl introductions, the Patriots
trashed tradition. Rather than be introduced as individuals, they came out as one team.
Call it hokey if you will. I call it effective. The team, the team, the team.
Just look at the Patriots’ second touchdown. It was set up when someone you never
heard of (Antwan Harris) forced a fumble that was recovered by someone who used to be
viewed as a first-round disappointment (Terrell Buckley). That play led to a TD pass from
a quarterback who completed all of one NFL pass before this season (Tom Brady) to a
receiver who was not drafted and spent time in the landscaping business, as an electrician
and hauling 75-pound cases in a coffee bean factory before jump-starting his career in the
Arena League (David Patten).
Who’s writing this script?
They did it by pumping life into their running game with an NFL castoff who got a late
start on his college career because he was taking care of his ailing grandparents
(Antowain Smith).
They did it with virtually no contribution from their most talented player, whose
controversial distractions would have torn apart most teams (WR Terry Glenn). They
maintained an effective passing game without Glenn, thanks to a guy who was nothing more
than a backup receiver and special-teamer most of his pro career (Troy Brown).
They did it despite the fact that their QB coach died (Dick Rehbein). They did it
despite the controversy that occurred when their $100 million quarterback got hurt and was
not given his job back when healthy (Drew Bledsoe).
Who’s writing this script?
Head coach Bill Belichick is the man who wrote this improbable, impossible and
ultimately impeccable script. Hollywood wouldn’t buy into this million-to-one story
line, but his team sure did.
The team, the team, the team.
If you want to know what the greatest coaching job you’ll ever see in your
lifetime will be, you can stop looking right now. Belichick just completed it.
Sometimes teams come out of nowhere, and while you didn’t predict it, you can find
explanations after the fact. The Patriots have just won the Super Bowl, and I still
can’t find enough individual talent to explain it.
For example, I didn’t think the Bears would be any good this season, but after
they fooled all the experts, it is now easy to note that they have a ton of young talent
that blossomed sooner than expected. I can’t find that kind of explanation with the
Patriots.
That is why you have to give so much credit to Belichick.
What he didn’t have in talent, he made up for in football principles. Find players
who are hungry. Build good team chemistry. Play hard-nosed defense. Run the football on
offense. And above all else, instill the greatest sense of teamwork in the entire league.
The team, the team, the team.
The Patriots won it all this season because of Belichick’s willingness to do
whatever was best for the team.
When controversial decisions had to be made, he made them, made them decisively rather
than let difficult situations fester, and then took the heat.
When Rehbein died, Belichick involved himself with the quarterbacks and delegated some
of the coaching responsibilities for his beloved defense.
The mistakes he made as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns have been corrected. In
Cleveland, he was too tough on his team. He did not let them breathe. He did not let them
see a light at the end of the tunnel. With the Patriots, he has not gotten soft, but he
has toned down his act, he has become more comfortable with his players and he has become
a much better communicator and motivator.
Belichick may not be a candidate to spew one-liners at a comedy club, but these days he
smiles more, laughs more and even seems more comfortable with the media. He may not spin
great yarns or unleash an avalanche of side-splitting punch lines, but if you ask him an
intelligent question, you will get an extremely insightful answer.
Above all else, he got more out of less this season than you will ever see. He and
director of player personnel Scott Pioli put together a team this past offseason that had
some of Pioli’s peers around the league scratching their heads, wondering what the
game plan was. As it turns out, the game plan was to win a Super Bowl.
The Super Bowl win over the Rams was Belichick’s Patriots at their low-profile
best. Everywhere you looked, there were players who made a big play in the game. Almost
nowhere was anyone who made a lot of big plays. It’s why the Super Bowl MVP was so
difficult to pick. It’s why the Super Bowl MVP was a quarterback who threw for a
nondescript 145 yards. Think about that. That yardage total is a mere snack for Rams QB
Kurt Warner.
Personally, I wouldn’t have voted Brady MVP, although I was impressed with the way
he managed the game.
I say we should tweak MVP to mean Most Valuable Person and give it to the one star for
the Patriots on Super Bowl Sunday.
Bill Belichick. |
