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An Insult to the Memory of Richard Nixon

People who say the New England Patriots are a uniquely secrecy-obsessed NFL franchise have not been around many NFL franchises. I can testify from considerable personal experience that ALL NFL teams regard the outside world, especially reporters, as a threat to be avoided whenever possible. There are franchises, notably the Raiders, where the organization's employees maintain obsessive secrecy from each other, and nobody would say the Pats are that far gone.

The Patriots do the NFL required minimum of media disclosure. That's pretty much what about 25 of the 32 teams in the league do. Bill Belichick is very good at evading or rebuffing questions he doesn't wish to answer. That's every public figure's privilege. Warren Hinckle, the editor of the muckraking mag "Ramparts" in the 1960s, wrote that the rarest thing in journalism is when "You say 'bang,' and the guy in the interview says 'I'm dead." Belichick shouldn't be criticized for refusing to roll over and stick his toes in the air in response to inquiries. A sports team shouldn't try to prevent reporters from doing their jobs. Not answering questions does not fall into that category.

The Pats' reputation for paranoia actually is a backhanded tribute to the coach. I can see why a casual observer might think the team is more paranoid than others, because that observer is seeing a difference in degree and not in kind.

All football coaches are, professionally anyway, paranoid control freaks. It's a job requirement, like being a gladhander is for the Rotary Club chairman. Belichick's no different -- except for this: He's really smart, and he thinks very hard about football almost all the time. Therefore, he appears more paranoid only because he has discovered more things to be paranoid about.

In the NFL, worry is the mother of invention.

posted by Michael Gee @ 3:53 PM