ESPN’s oral history of Bill Belichick is a rare glimpse inside the life of the Patriots coach
"Bill called our owner at like 3 in the morning to recommend me for the Ravens job."
Bill Belichick doesn’t like to talk about himself, but a myriad of notable former colleagues and players recently shared some of their most striking memories of the future Hall of Fame coach.
In an article published earlier on Tuesday, ESPN released an extensive oral history of the Patriots coach, titled “No More Questions.” It’s a rich account of Belichick’s decades in the NFL. Among the people who were interviewed are Bill Parcells, Curtis Martin, John Harbaugh, Aqib Talib, Kevin Faulk, Adam Vinatieri and a myriad of other coaches and players.
Here are a few highlights:
- In his first job with the Colts in 1975, Belichick was known as Billy instead of Bill.
- Kirk Farentz, University of Iowa head coach: “One of my first experiences was the interview, how extremely uncomfortable it was. You’ve seen him in press conferences. No matter what I said, there was a real poker face there. I mean, I was not getting any feedback. I was dying a thousand deaths…A mutual friend talked to him over the weekend. He called me back and said, ‘No, he liked you.’ I was like, ‘Oh my god. That’s a funny way to show it.’ It was uncomfortable.”
- John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens head coach: “Bill called our owner at like 3 in the morning to recommend me for the Ravens job. I was just really grateful and I couldn’t believe it. I called Bill up and thanked him right away. He just said, ‘Ah, don’t worry about it, you should’ve had the job three days ago.'”
- Rick Venturi, former Browns assistant coach: “He has a very dry, cynical sense of humor. A couple of times we’d hit the parking lot at the same time in the morning, and on the way into the facility he’d comment on The Howard Stern Show. ‘Was that hilarious or what?’ he’d say.”
- Aqib Talib: “Once, in practice, [Tom] Brady threw a seam ball that was intercepted, and Bill, man, he chewed Tom out, saying, ‘You got 130 career interceptions,’ or whatever it was, ‘and half of them are on this route. You keep doing the same s— over and over and this is what happens.’ Right then you know two things about the Patriots and Bill Belichick: Everybody is treated the same, and you better get your s— together.”
- Adam Vinatieri: “There were times when he would surprise you and ask you a certain teammate’s wife’s name.”
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com