Story on Patriots' documentary brings recent dysfunction to light

Steve102 said:

It sounds like it's gonna be a hit piece. Bill made a lot of enemies in the media. I am not surprised it's going to make him look bad. Lots of people waited to piss on him, so here it comes.

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I mean it sounds like most of it are the players he coached and the owner. I hate to say it, but it's one thing if it's talking heads and outsiders. When you have Brady saying he wouldn't have resigned to play here even if he was going to be a player for 10 more years and that Gronk wouldn't want to get out of his car to come to work, and even Slater who is a BB guy acknowedging it, it gains credibility.

lancerman said:

I mean it sounds like most of it are the players he coached and the owner. I hate to say it, but it's one thing if it's talking heads and outsiders. When you have Brady saying he wouldn't have resigned to play here even if he was going to be a player for 10 more years and that Gronk wouldn't want to get out of his car to come to work, and even Slater who is a BB guy acknowedging it, it gains credibility.

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I am not suggesting that it's not true. Not even a little. Belichick was no doubt a prick to work for. I don't think it's news, really. I think it was Ronnie Lott who said getting elite athletes to perform at an elite level is sometimes an uncomfortable thing. He did it for a long time. Look at Pete Carroll. He hands out hugs like they are going out of style. Players coach. 1 SB win.

Bill's method worked because he had the locker room supporting him from day 1. Milloy, Bruschi, and later Harrison, those first keystones of the first three championships carried the message. Later, it was Brady. Once Brady was all done with it, it crumbled. Mac didn't have the backbone do deal with Bill's ********. Kraft let on to this when he said, paraphrasing, that Mayo and his staff will have a better way of dealing with today's younger player.

I am not whitewashing it. Bill was tough to play for, but it worked as long as the players supported it. When they didn't it was over.

Steve102 said:

It sounds like it's gonna be a hit piece. Bill made a lot of enemies in the media. I am not surprised it's going to make him look bad. Lots of people waited to piss on him, so here it comes.

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This isn't a Belichick hit piece but a look at the greatest dynasty in sports history. You think players talking about what was happening at the time is a media hit piece? I don't. We finally get to look behind the curtain. Rumors of dysfunction go back >10 yrs but nobody here wanted to believe it. Bill kept Foxboro locked down like it was Ft. Knox. Bill deserves credit for a lot of things but he's just a man, with faults like any other man. My opinion of Bill, Brady, the team and their success won't change because of this documentary, but I'm looking forward to learning a few things.

and yet the IBWT morons will still genuflect at his altar and deny the fact that Bill Duplicitous Pond Scum Belichick set this franchise back 10 years

venecol said:

This isn't a Belichick hit piece but a look at the greatest dynasty in sports history. You think players talking about what was happening at the time is a media hit piece? I don't. We finally get to look behind the curtain. Rumors of dysfunction go back >10 yrs but nobody here wanted to believe it. Bill kept Foxboro locked down like it was Ft. Knox. Bill deserves credit for a lot of things but he's just a man, with faults like any other man. My opinion of Bill, Brady, the team and their success won't change because of this documentary, but I'm looking forward to learning a few things.

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See above. I am not excusing Bill at all.

Triumph said:

Expect numerous hit pieces like this until Mayo has to stand on his own coaching record.

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Bill wrote his own hit piece with his performance the last four years

amfootball said:

We are all entitled to our opinions. BB literally sucked all the fun out of winning 6 chips. I mean look at the way Tampa celebrated its SB with the boat parade and Arians getting blasted. Bill was always the curmudgeon snorting and grunting his way through presser after presser. You say he always gave credit to the players? Not while they were playing for him, he didn't. Or did you forget him saying "it's no open heart surgery" after Brady won the AFCGG game vs the Jags with his thumb stitched up with no Edelman or Gronk?

And his **** relationship with the league is what cost us TWO first round draft picks for stupid rule book violations. He just could never understand how to play the game within the game. Brady never gets suspended for fricking ball deflation if BB did not handle Spygate like a complete moron.

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Bill haters have officially lost it

I didn't read it, but it's impossible to not have ego's which leads to dysfunction of after 20 years of success. In fact, you know you have problems ahead when assistant coaches are going around the NFL saying how they could "take any High School QB and make him an All Pro" (McDaniels) or "they were the reason the Pats won the Super Bowl in 2014" (Patricia) and telling the star player on their new team (Darious Slay) that they were "nothing" (Patricia). Ego's were inflated.

And when you have the QB being told he's the "GOAT" and the HC being he's the "GOAT", a power struggle is inevitable.

Even Phil Jackson wrote a book on the dysfunction of the the early 2000 Lakers (fantastic book and autographed by him) and his 90's Bulls were extremely dysfunctional. The freaking GM intentionally broke the team up because of his own ego after winning a championship!

TheRainMaker said:

I didn't read it, but it's impossible to not have ego's which leads to dysfunction of after 20 years of success. In fact, you know you have problems ahead when assistant coaches are going around the NFL saying how they could "take any High School QB and make him an All Pro" (McDaniels) or "they were the reason the Pats won the Super Bowl in 2014" (Patricia) and telling the star player on their new team (Darious Slay) that they were "nothing" (Patricia).

Even Phil Jackson wrote a book on the dysfunction of the the early 2000 Lakers (fantastic book and autographed by him) and his 90's Bulls were extremely dysfunctional. The freaking GM intentionally broke the team up because of his own ego after winning a championship!

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The Last Dance was outstanding.

amfootball said:

I am sorry but F Bill. What a fricking clown to have done what he did to Brady at the end. Both he and Bob could not wait after that first SB win to take all the credit for themselves and tout the "Patriot Way." I am glad everything blew up in Bill's face with the ultimate humiliation being that literally no team wants him as their HC.

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Bill could not change who he is or was. It's in his DNA to behave this way. It worked for a few years..but Bill's approach had a shelf life and it expired.
I do not expect him to be successful elsewhere in 2025. Maybe in the short run for half a season but it will wear on today's NFL player quickly.

Sam Bam Cunningham said:

Bill could not change who he is or was. It's in his DNA to behave this way. It worked for a few years..but Bill's approach had a shelf life and it expired.
I do not expect him to be successful elsewhere in 2025. Maybe in the short run for half a season but it will wear on today's NFL player quickly.

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If I'm BB and still wanted to coach I'd take the SF DC gig and then a HC job if one opens up that's convenient

Guts said:

If I'm BB and still wanted to coach I'd take the SF DC gig and then a HC job if one opens up that's convenient

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I said this as a joke to my friend who is tired of Steve Wilks, but this would be a big step down for Bill. You can't go from "GOAT HC" to DC.

TheRainMaker said:

I said this as a joke to my friend who is tired of Steve Wilks, but this would be a big step down for Bill. You can't go from "GOAT HC" to DC.

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I'm a little surprised that Navy hasn't offered him a job.

Sam Bam Cunningham said:

Bill could not change who he is or was. It's in his DNA to behave this way. It worked for a few years..but Bill's approach had a shelf life and it expired.
I do not expect him to be successful elsewhere in 2025. Maybe in the short run for half a season but it will wear on today's NFL player quickly.

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For most players Bill's shelf life is roughly the length the players effective playing years. They move on before real hard feelings develop. One of the most amazing thing that Brady brought to the table was that he was excellent for so long. His longevity wreaked havoc on developing a transition plan and was in direct conflict with the BB's philosophy of moving on a year too soon. Additionally Brady was recognized as a hero which created additional friction. As a result the tension between BB and Brady went on so long that real animosity developed. To flip the narrative, Brady got everything he could out of his relationship with BB and the Pats before leaving because he couldn't take it any more.

Steve102 said:

The Last Dance was outstanding.

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The HBO series wasn't bad either. I bet you could go back in time and look at all the dynasties and find some level of dysfunction eventually. Humans working with other humans, throw in huge ego's and that's the recipe. Surprise it lasted as long as it did.

Steve102 said:

It sounds like it's gonna be a hit piece. Bill made a lot of enemies in the media. I am not surprised it's going to make him look bad. Lots of people waited to piss on him, so here it comes.

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How’s it a hit piece if players are going on the record and are the ones who are saying it? And it’s not just the Asante Samuel’s of the world. It’s Brady, Slater, Amendola, Welker,….

“Players, including several still on the roster, disclose just how difficult it was playing for Belichick. “It was brutal,” Matthew Slater said. Rob Gronkowski described pulling up to 1 Patriot Place and not wanting to get out of his car to go into work. Wes Welker compared Brady to an abused dog for continually going back to work for Belichick.”

You can run a tight ship, be demanding, etc… but you don’t have to be an *******.

BTTA said:

New Patriots documentary reveals how bad it got between Brady, Belichick: ‘It was brutal’

A review of "The Dynasty," a documentary on the Patriots from 2000 to 2020 by Apple TV+ that kicks off with two episodes Friday.

theathletic.com

Wow. Even Slater talks about how bad things were in the last decade or so, with attribution that the high authoritarian leadership style of the head coach as the primary cause.

(If you don't subscribe to NYT or The Athletic, open in Firefox and use the read function.)

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Did he? I want to see the context. "It was brutal." What was brutal? The practices? Belichick yelling? We won't know until we tune in. I suspect it's other than what people think.

I found it interesting that Brady didn't want to sign with the Patriots prior to 2019 and that it wasn't the money. That makes a lot of sense since Brady was on Steven Ross's boat prior to the 2019 season. If he was willing to go there, then that has to be the break. The stuff prior was all for show. Can't believe he almost went to the Dolphins, and Brian Flores of all people put the kibbosh to it.

If someone said to me that the relationship deteriorated in 2019, I'd say of course. That was plainly evidence. Even McDaniels and Brady often went at it on the sidelines. There were in game frustrations, the injuries to the OL, the receivers who dropped like flies, and Brady throwing the ball away. But it will be interesting to see how they were having difficulty in prior years when they were constantly winning.

Boomer B said:

How’s it a hit piece if players are going on the record and are the ones who are saying it? And it’s not just the Asante Samuel’s of the world. It’s Brady, Slater, Amendola, Welker,….

“Players, including several still on the roster, disclose just how difficult it was playing for Belichick. “It was brutal,” Matthew Slater said. Rob Gronkowski described pulling up to 1 Patriot Place and not wanting to get out of his car to go into work. Wes Welker compared Brady to an abused dog for continually going back to work for Belichick.”

You can run a tight ship, be demanding, etc… but you don’t have to be an *******.

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Context. You have to wait and see. What's the context for Slater saying that? Amendola is long ago known as being exactly like Samuel, upset over the lack of contract. But what does Slater have to say?

Guts said:

If I'm BB and still wanted to coach I'd take the SF DC gig and then a HC job if one opens up that's convenient

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No way any head coach would want Bill under him.

cmasspatsfan said:

The HBO series wasn't bad either. I bet you could go back in time and look at all the dynasties and find some level of dysfunction eventually. Humans working with other humans, throw in huge ego's and that's the recipe. Surprise it lasted as long as it did.

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Agree on surprised it lasted as long as it did.

Watching some of the players talk about Lombardi, back in the day, about how brutal he was, yet they still loved him. That was 55 years ago. Times changed a bit since then. Lol