Patriots head coach Bill Belichick had was busy over the weekend after receiving a unique honor in his hometown.
Belichick was on hand for the Men’s Lacrosse game between Army and Navy on Saturday and was honored at halftime with being given the key to the city of Annapolis.
What was really great was that, according to the Baltimore Sun, Belichick was all smiles as he was joined by former teammates and classmates during the ceremony, with the normally reserved head coach giving each one a big hug as they came on to greet him.
Honored to host Coach Bill Belichick at today's Army-Navy Men's Lacrosse game as he receives the key to the city of Annapolis!#GoNavy pic.twitter.com/8zKwd1luwT
— Navy Athletics (@NavyAthletics) April 24, 2021
A video tribute of Belichick was also played that included a message from Navy football coach Ken Niumatalolo as well as from Patriots long-snapper Joe Cardona.
However, prior to that, it appears there were some nerve-wracking moments for Mayor Gavin Buckley. Buckley initially couldn’t find Belichick, questioning whether or not the coach was there for the ceremony.
Fortunately, Belichick was apparently off to the side wearing a headset while doing an interview with CBS Sports Network and everything turned out just fine.
The normally reserved head coach was appreciative of the recognition and even more touched for the people who turned out for the event.
“It’s an incredible honor to be recognized by your hometown. There’s nothing bigger than that. I’m so proud to be an Annapolitan,” Belichick said via the newspaper.
Overall, it was a terrific afternoon for Belichick, who was clearly overwhelmed with emotion as he received the honor. But he was obviously surprised to be reunited with guys he said he hasn’t seen since his playing days, which really made it special.
“That was amazing. Some of these guys I haven’t seen since I was living in Annapolis,” he said. “It’s great to be back in Annapolis, great to be here at this stadium and great to be watching Army-Navy lacrosse.”
(Portions of this report appeared in this morning’s news and notes column)
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
