Never Too Old to Turn Free Agent
Bill Belichick is enjoying himself -- in public yet.
The former Patriots coach went on Pat McAfee's show to discuss the NFL draft, and sure seemed to have a good time doing it. He then appeared as a featured guest in the roast of Tom Brady shown on Netflix, and had a rip-snorting good time and incidentally was reasonably funny.
(Back in his early Patriots' days, before he treated public appearances as league-mandated torture, Belichick would flash humor to reporters. His sense of humor was dry, understated, Christopher Guestish. This was and still is contrary to the prevailing comedy ethos of our culture. Maybe that's why he gave it up.)
Belichick also announced plans to be a guest on the Manningcasts of Monday Night Football next season, the crown jewel of Peyton Manning's media empire. A man famous for taciturnity verging on churlishness is seeking out football-related opportunities to kick back rather than to kick off. Is it possible that an historically great coach has found that life offers more pleasant ways to pass the time than trying to drag the Atlanta Falcons' sorry asses to the NFC South title?
None of Belichick's current or planned diversions could possibly offer him the fulfillment he took from a lifetime of competition in the NFL and his total commitment to the cruel, maddening profession in which he reached the top rung of the ladder and a few rungs beyond that. But fulfillment and fun are not the same thing. Did Michelangelo enjoy himself painting the Sistine Chapel? Did Ulysses S. Grant have a good time at Appomattox Court House? For that matter, was comedy itself FUN for Richard Pryor and Robin Williams. No, no, no, and no. In each case, their quests were something way more than fun. Something way less, too.
Without total commitment, greatness in any field is impossible. But total commitment takes its toll. Think of Belichick last December. Did he look fulfilled? Did he even look or sound like a person wholly involved in what was his life's work? He looked miserable. He looked like a guy confronting a problem he knew he couldn't fix and worse, that he knew he'd helped create. My guess is the sarcastic, mean coach's voice Belichick's players often heard was ringing loud and clear inside his own head, a tongue lashing he couldn't stop nor appease.
The New England Patriots are no longer Belichick's problem. And it appears, or he wishes it to appear, as if he's now struck by the recognition that as far as football goes, he no longer has any problems at all. He is a revered, coveted guest wherever he goes in that sport's community. His thoughts on the sport are sought after. He's going to start the 2024 NFL season undefeated, and with luck, he'll end it that way too.
It's not like I think the guy has mellowed. Competition is one of the most powerful drugs humanity knows, and it's not a habit four months away from it can break. It's a given that by midseason, a significant number of NFL teams will suck. It's close to a given that one of the competition addicts that owns one of those unhappy franchises will offer Belichick a way back into the fulfilling, horrible trade he once mastered and then, well, didn't. I wouldn't bet that Bill would turn the guy down.
And that's OK. If if his soul and destiny drive Belichick to the Cowboys, Browns (again) or God help us all, the Jets, so be it. We don't remember Michelangelo for his hobbies.
But for now, Belichick seems committed to deriving entertainment from the first real offseason he's had since he was in college. It's a pleasant sensation, having more options than responsibilities. At Belichick's age, which happens to be close to my age, it's also a damn miracle no matter how long it lasts.
Memo to Whom It May Concern in Patriotsland
Dear Sirs and/or Madams in the Front Office: The following is a list of quarterbacks drafted with the third pick in the NFL draft since the merged NFL-AFL draft began in 1967.
1967: Steve Spurrier (note, number four pick Bob Griese is in the Hall of Fame).
1970: Mike Phipps
1971: Dan Pastorini
1979 Jack "The Throwin' Samoan" Thompson (4th pick Dan Hampton, Hall of Fame
1986: Jim Everett
1994: Heath Shuler
1995: Steve McNair
1999: Akili Smith (4th pick Edgerrin James, Hall of Fame)
2002: Joey Harrington
2006: Vince Young
2008: Matt Ryan
2014: Blake Bortles
2018: Sam Darnold
2021: Trey Lance
As a group, these QBs fail to impress. Everett and Pastorini had OK careers. McNair and Ryan did better than that. Each won an MVP, each had a team reach the Super Bowl but lost. Otherwise, oy. There are some historic failures on the lost -- Firing an executive or two type failures.
Past performance is no guarantee of future success, as the Wall Street ads say, but this list strongly suggests the Pats should do even deeper study of their tapes of Marvin Harrison Jr.
The Triumph of Hope Over Experience
In the winter of 2020, the New England Patriots organization, led by coach Bill Belichick but certainly including team owner Robert Kraft, decided that the team could lose quarterback Tom Brady and continue with business as usual, maybe with a hiccup or two, but nothing that couldn't be handled.
This assessment turned out to be erroneous.
In the winter of 2024, owner Robert Kraft decided the resulting disasters were Belichick's fault (he bears his share of blame and then some), so he fired the coach and replaced him with young, smart, Jerod Mayo, whose only football experience was working for Belichick. In fact, as far as can be told, the entire organization created and ruled by Belichick for a quarter of a century will remain in place. Their natural talents will bloom without the shade cast by the previous hooded tyrant.
Could be. Kraft's smart, too. But I'd keep my money in my pocket when a Patriots game goes on the board next fall.
You Gotta Be a Football Hero to Get Along With the Beautiful Girls. Or a Baseball Hero
One tell about Boston opinion about the Patriots going into the 2023 season opener is that local TV news, the ultimate homers, are focusing on the Tom Brady ceremony/whatever the hell it is event at halftime rather than the actual game against the Eagles.
Well, there's nothing local TV likes better than some meaningless feel good event, so there's been deep coverage. One station (I'm leaving a lot out here, because the nice lady at the center of this piece deserves better than what's coming) found a sweet woman in her 80s who allegedly was the inspiration for the ho "80 for Brady" horror movie.
The usual fluff feature ensued, but there was a twist. Some enterprising intern, who I hope this post doesn't get fired, discovered that in her youth, this woman had been Miss New Hampshire 1948. Moreover, he or she also found some newspaper or publicity still in which she appears next to Ted Williams in full Red Sox uniform.
The picture told 10 million words. Ted was very obviously throwing major moves at this sweet young this and she was just as obviously not unhappy about it. At all.
The saying goes that the Splendid Splinter hit .344 on the field and .844 off it. I think we can regard that photo as another occasion where Ted sent one deep over the bullpen into the Fenway bleachers.
What I'm saying here is that this sweet old lady is still a hardcore and together sports groupie. And for that, I salute her. That spirit is what makes America greay.
Second Guessing Never Stops the Clock
Once upon a long ago time there was a basketball coach. Among other of his qualities, he was famous for hating to ever call time outs when his team was struggling with its play or facing an opponent's surge. He almost never did this, which even back in this era was considered most unconventional if not controversial. But the coach believed that his players were properly prepared and could, indeed should, figure out their problems in real time during game action.
This coach's name was John Wooden. Check his record out sometime. Then think about if you really want to insist Joe Mazzulla was the reason the Celtics lost to Miami last night or if maybe, just maybe, the incredibly gifted and even more incredibly inconsistent team Boston puts on the floor had something to do with it.
Final Thought, I Promise, on NBA Minutes Played
Back in my day, NBA stars did load management the right way. They half-assed it on the court on the nights they felt tired.
Quiet Times Breed Noisy Takes
The Boston Celtics have the best record in the NBA so far this season. According to some however, the team must address a serious problem. Its best player is playing too much.
No, really. It is posited that because Jayson Tatum is averaging a fraction over 37 minutes a game of playing time, the Celtics are in danger of burning out their top star and MVP candidate before the playoffs, the "real season" begin and certainly by the NBA Finals, which incidentally the observers tend to assume the Celts will make anyway.
Leave aside that Tatum's time spent on the court might have something, indeed, a good deal, to do with Boston's gaudy 43-17 record to date. The worrywarts sure do. Let's generously assume that in theory, there's a point where Tatum could be overused, where his play would begin to slip due to his workload. In reality, where might that point be?
Tatum is 24 years old. By happy coincidence, Larry Bird was that age in the 1980-1981 season, when the Celtics won the first of their three NBA titles of the 80s. In that regular season, Bird averaged 39 1/2 minutes per game. In 1983-84, when Boston was again the champ, and Bird won the first of three straight MVP awards, he was granted about an extra 80 seconds of rest a game, averaging 38 plus minutes of PT.
Was that too long ago to be relevant to today's basketball? Only to the foolish, but in the spirit of generosity, I present a more contemporary comparison. Boston's last NBA championship came in the 2007-2008 season. That was a far more veteran team than today's Celts, but in terms of playing style, Paul Pierce is probably the closest comp to Tatum.
Pierce was 30 years old that season. He averaged 36 minutes per game in the regular season. This slowed him down so much Pierce was only able to average 38 per game in the playoffs.
History lesson over. I didn't go back any further than Bird because the increasingly large section of the basketball public too young to remember back then tends not to believe the statistics of the '60s and '70s. (If you must know, John Havlicek averaged 41 minutes a game for the '74 Celtic champs at age 33 and Bill Russell, age 34, averaged 43 minutes a game for the '69 champs).
In any event, none of these numbers suggest that Tatum's being driven/driving himself into the ground by coach Joe Mazzulla or by his own desires for personal glory. He's played about how much Celtics superstars have played for the last 40 years. Tatum is indeed second in the league in minutes played per game. But he's getting all of 84 seconds on the floor per night more than LeBron James, age 38. James is 12th in average minutes per game.
If Tatum tells us he's tired, I'll believe he is. Until then, I'll believe that his 37 minutes per game is closely related to that 43-17 record.
