For you old timers out there

[NovaScotiaPatsFan]

Since I've only been in to football and the Patriots since 1994 I was wondering if any of you fans who've been following the Pats for a lot longer have any memories or thoughts about BB before he was here, during his Giants and Cleveland years, and if so would you share them with us young whipper snappers?

 

[PittPatriot]

Since I've only been in to football and the Patriots since 1994 I was wondering if any of you fans who've been following the Pats for a lot longer have any memories or thoughts about BB before he was here, during his Giants and Cleveland years, and if so would you share them with us young whipper snappers?

I never thought highly of him (or lowly) because he was generally a pretty quiet guy. Also, this was pre-internet/blogging so all I ever saw or heard of him was during big games that were nationally televised.
I never credited him with the awesome play of the NYG LB corps circa 1986...in retrospect I would. I think that is a function of a quiet DC doing his job and a vocal HC who was always in the Nat'l spotlight (Tuna).
As a Pittsburgher, I kind of followed him in Cleveland...really only had 1 good team which beat Bledsoe and Pats on New Year's Day 1995.

I don't think BB became the icon he is today until the "I resign as HC of the NYJ" move that led him to New England.

Better than my recollection is the book "Education of a Coach" that details his life and gave me much great appreciation to what makes BB the icon he is.

 

[supafly]

I'm not exactly an 'old-timer,' but my memories of the Pats begin with the "Squish the Fish" season of 1985, thus leading to the SB. I was rooting for them because they were the big underdogs, and also the first team to ever win 3 on the road to go to the big game. I also hated the idea of everyone jumping on the Bears' bandwagon, etc.

My Cleveland memory of Belichick was him taking the Browns to the playoffs in the last season they were in Cleveland (IIRC?). I believe they went 11-5, and beat the NE Pats in round 1, which was a big accomplishment then for a somewhat lousy Browns team, and a young coach.

I know he was all about descisions best for the team, as he ran then CLE fave Bernie Kosar out at QB.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

If you were following in 1994 you'd have noticed him beating us twice that year

I actually got into football and the Pats that same year (big Bledsoe fan). I remember that Sunday nighter @ Indy down the stretch as the first major anticipated match on TV of my football watching days. And I wasn't disappointed

 

[RayClay]

He was definitely considered the defensive genius coach at NY, I remember that.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

The Pats' 7-game win streak to end the '94 regular season was sandwiched by losses to BB's Browns. Drew threw 7 picks in the two games (BB had him figured out from the start). I remember the controversial benching of hometown favorite Kosar in favor of Vinny Interceptaverde in '93, but it worked out in the end as the Browns went 11-5 the following year. I also remember BB's reputation as a richard and even he said he learned how to deal with the media better after his Browns experience. I admit I was wary when the Pats signed him in 2000.

I vaguely remember his stint as DC of the Giants. Parcells was larger than life in NY, so his coordinators were always overshadowed. Much like how BB now is credited with the Pats D (only on Pats-centric sites do we talk about Pees...nationally, it's "a Belichick Defense(TM)"), the Giants' D was considered Parcells' so when BB became head coach, my first reaction was "I wonder how this guy will do without Parcells." He's done well to say the least.

Regards,
Chris

 

[Feep50]

BB made a name for himself as a defensive mastermind with the Giants, Lawrence Taylor helps a real bunch making a defensive coordinator look good. He struggled with Cleveland but everyone does with that team. BB has always been a superior defensive mind for a long, long time. I was thrilled when we got him as a head coach and it didn't take him long to build a dynasty here....

BB is hero in New England sports forever now. As it should be.

 

[NovaScotiaPatsFan]

If you were following in 1994 you'd have noticed him beating us twice that year

Yeah, my memories from back then are pretty faded, I was 15 at the time and didn't know squat about football, when I was a kid I remember thinking how complicated it was compared to the other sports.

I know it was 1994 though because I remember hearing about Joe Montana playing his last year in the league. I'd heard the name before, like I knew he was a big time NFL QB but I didn't really grasp it.

My first real memory of the Pats would be the 1996 season, I remember them playing Pittsburgh in the fog game and then beating the then 2nd year Jags to go to the Super Bowl. I remember that the other 2nd year team at the time, Carolina, was in the NFC championship as well and people were kind of curious what a Super Bowl with two such new teams would have been like.

And... I remember Desmond Howard, I'll never forget that guy, even though I didn't really get football as much as I do now. (and anyone who sees me post knows I still don't get it very much)

 

[supafly]

Yeah, my memories from back then are pretty faded, I was 15 at the time and didn't know squat about football, when I was a kid I remember thinking how complicated it was compared to the other sports.

I know it was 1994 though because I remember hearing about Joe Montana playing his last year in the league. I'd heard the name before, like I knew he was a big time NFL QB but I didn't really grasp it.

My first real memory of the Pats would be the 1996 season, I remember them playing Pittsburgh in the fog game and then beating the then 2nd year Jags to go to the Super Bowl. I remember that the other 2nd year team at the time, Carolina, was in the NFC championship as well and people were kind of curious what a Super Bowl with two such new teams would have been like.

And... I remember Desmond Howard, I'll never forget that guy, even though I didn't really get football as much as I do now. (and anyone who sees me post knows I still don't get it very much)

The fog game in 96.

Freakin' epic, memories for life.

We kicked their asses.

 

[NovaScotiaPatsFan]

The fog game in 96.

Freakin' epic, memories for life.

We kicked their asses.

Yeah, my only wish is that I could have known then how much I'd come to loathe the Stealers so I could have enjoyed the win that much more.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

The fog game in 96.

Freakin' epic, memories for life.

We kicked their asses.

Oh my God did I talk a gang of **** at school the next day... that was the best win by far pre-BB era for me. Unfortuntely I received it all back the next year.... I seriously wanted to skip out that day.

 

[supafly]

Oh my God did I talk a gang of **** at school the next day... that was the best win by far pre-BB era for me. Unfortuntely I received it all back the next year.... I seriously wanted to skip out that day.

I hear that.

When we lost the SB that year, my answering machine was full of a bunch of my friends making choking noises, and talking about Bledsoe choking, giving the game away etc.

I wanted very badly to reciprocate in many ways after the 01 and 04 AFCCG's, but sadly didn't. I had my long awaited opportunity twice, and didn't take advantage.

Then, last year I had my credit card out, and was going to send red and white balloons to just about everyone I know (in honor of ARZ's SB win/more about PIT losing). Within the next 2 minutes those petty dreams were shot too

 

[Wax Frog]

I didn't (and still don't) pay much attention to NFC games, but being a MD native I do know that while he was with the Giants, their rivalry with the Redskins approached the one with the Cowboys in terms of the buzz it generated around here.

 

[DarrylS]

As a mature pats fan, not sure I knew a whole bunch about him before he came here.. was aware of the Kosar stuff in Cleveland and how he got dumped there..but most of the stuff is now is retrospect, have to rememer the flow of information was much different 25 years ago...

Most of the information we got was from local newspapers.. no internet, no cable, no NFL network, many balckouts (thank god for the radio), no pregame shows, limited TV and no discussion boards... it was pretty much tunnel vision at that time. We would get tidbits from the Globe and Herald, but it was primarily focused on the Patriots..

 

[tuckeverlasting]

from what i remember, belichick was the young defensive genius behind the giants defense and modell wanted to hire him for his struggling cleveland franchise. one of belichick's first moves was to jettison kosar(who i always thought sucked) and bring in testaverde. cleveland went nuts. i also remember him beating the pats(and parcells) in the playoffs, at cleveland i believe. i freely admit that when we hired him as hc i was a little nervous.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Living in New York, I got more exposure to him than most on this board, nearly all during his time with the Jets but also during the Giants 1990 SB season. He was always spoken of in hushed tones as an eccentric genius but was generally overshadowed by the mighty Tuna and his out sized person and persona; there was only room for one star in a Parcells' operation, which played a big part in his decision to resign "as the HC of the NYJ."

On a personal level, one of my friends lived in his neighborhood and their children became friends so they saw quite a bit of him. They just thought he was a very nice guy and tell stories of his showing up at school functions in shorts or sweats after practice.

 

[Nikolai]

Belichick's game plan against the Bills in SB XXV was amazing. There are a few similarities between that SB and SB XXXI, particularly when thinking of how BB had to formulate a game plan that would mitigate a very high powered NFL offense. The games were both won on the last play as well.

 

[fair catch fryar]

Ever since the '86 Giants, Parcells and LT got all the love and when the G-men upset the Bills in that SuperBowl is when you really started hearing about a young defensive genius named Bill Belichick.

 

[Mongo Heathen]

...By the looks of it, it appears I qualify as one of the 'ol geezers' on this board... (I've been following the Pats since they drafted Grogan, so that should tell you something *lol*). Pretty much Bellichick was the 'power behind the throne' during his Giants days. I watched many games (because of a lack of cable, where I'm located in the country, and I'm a football junkie) of the Giants against the other NFC powers and they won many a game on the backs of their defense (Simms was a hit or miss kind of QB). This all points back to Bellichick. To be blunt, Parcells wasn't nearly as good a HC once Bellichick went out on his own (Cleveland, Pats). That, and the fact that Bellichick has won 3 SBs to Parcells 2, and that Parcells teams since (while decent) haven't progressed any further should point out that Bellichick was the 'real' talent behind the scenes (btw, it was more than just Taylor, he had Carson and a boat load of other great defenders to work with as well). I also read the book about him and all signs point to him being the HC here for a long time to come (that is, if he doesn't blow it bad enough on some level or another). Before Bellichick came along, this team was Jekyll and Hyde. Never seemed to completely have it's act together (still loved them, tho). Kraft and him brought consistency, vision and organization to the team.

 

[scout]

Let me swing my rocker over to the computer. Was somewhat excited when the Pats traded for Joe Kapp. With Kapp "throwing" and Nance running, who knows. Didn't really pay too much attention to assistant coaches of other teams. The first I really knew of BB was his infamous introduction as Pats head coach. Parcells had just delivered a lofty poem of the journeys of a football coach or some bs. The focus turns to BB who is addressing the Boston media. He unravels a small piece of paper which has something scribbled on it and reads its content. Wow, have things changed.