What Boston sports radio is saying about the Malcolm Butler situation
Radio hosts question, criticize, and suggest therapy after Bill Belichick benches Malcolm Butler.
, Bill Belichick didn’t offer a full explanation, and the sports radio world is just one avenue that’s filling in the gap.
The New England Patriots cornerback played one snap during Super Bowl LII — on a punt-return, not defense — as the Philadelphia Eagles racked up 538 yards of total offense on their way to a 41-33 victory.
“We have to make the decisions that we feel are best for the football team and that is what we did, that is what I did,” Belichick said on a conference call Monday morning. “That’s really all I can say about it.”
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That didn’t satiate Patriots fans hungry for an explanation as to why the hero of Super Bowl XLIX didn’t touch the field on defense during Super Bowl LII. Fans turned to sports radio to vent their frustrations with the decision and the defeat, as well as to find the answers Belichick refused to give.
Here’s what Boston sports radio is saying about the Malcolm Butler situation:
“Felger & Massarotti” (98.5 The Sports Hub):
Unless he punched a woman or burned down an orphanage, I don’t care if he was high or missed a curfew, [benching Butler] is putting your team in the best position to win? Are you kidding me?
Bill is impeccable when it comes to his resume, but every once in a while, his ego gets the better of him, and he just can’t let it go on something… You think you can win the Super Bowl, you’re that arrogant about it that you’re going to take out your second best cover guy?
If he did something really egregious, send him home. I’d respect that. You have team rules, he violated team rules, send him home. But you didn’t. So what are you doing there? It’s all fair to second guess.
“Kirk & Callahan” (93.7 WEEI):
Do you think Belichick is stupid? Do you think he tried to lose the game on purpose last night? I have enough faith in Belichick — and maybe I’m wrong, maybe this is something where he just snapped — but my belief is that it had to be so egregious that Belichick said to Patricia, “You know what? Screw this guy, we’re done.”
There better be more to this story, because right now [Belichick] does not look good.
Malcolm Butler is 100 percent right. He could have changed that game. He could have won the game. I think Belichick let down the team … Forget Butler. Tom Brady deserved better. Rob Gronkowski deserved better. David Andrews deserved better. The coaches deserved better.
The more I think about it, I wonder if this is, in fact, the oddest Belichick decision. There’s been a lot of them. Is this the oddest one?
There are people who spend 10 percent of their money on the Patriots. On following this team, living and dying with this team. They just had one simple question: “Coach, where was Malcolm Butler?”
“Toucher and Rich” (98.5 The Sports Hub):
Until we get an explanation, you can put this squarely on the head of Bill Belichick … you can put this loss on Bill Belichick. You can put it on him not having Malcolm Butler out there.
It’s a one-possession game. The Patriots couldn’t get off the field on third down. This guy could’ve knocked away one pass. That’s all you needed him for.
“Dale, Holley & Keefe” (93.7 WEEI):
Maybe you would have had a shot of getting off the field every now and then on third down if you had this guy in the game. I think it was a stupid decision.
Try to defend this, Dale Arnold. Defend giving up a ton of yards, 41 points, while a guy you have used 98 percent of the time is sitting there doing nothing as you watch your season go down the tube with Johnson Bademosi, Eric Rowe, and Jordan Richards doing nothing on the field. Explain that.
Nobody in Foxborough questions Bill Belichick’s intelligence. He’s the smartest guy in the organization. When it comes to football, nobody is smarter than Bill Belichick. No player is smarter than he is, no coach is smarter than he is, nobody in marketing or the business side is smarter than Bill Belichick. So he doesn’t have to prove that. And if he feels that he needs to do that, maybe he needs to talk to somebody. I’m talking about a professional.
“Zolak & Bertrand” (98.5 The Sports Hub):
Is he going to lose the locker room over this? Pete Carroll lost the locker room over a significant decision in a Super Bowl — throwing down at the goal line, not handing off to Marshawn Lynch. Are there repercussions to this decision for Bill Belichick? Are fans still going to look at it and say, “In Bill We Trust”? Are players still going to say, “In Bill We Trust”? Or is this one going to leave a mark?
