Bill Belichick complimented Patrice Bergeron by comparing him to Devin McCourty
"Great leader and player."
After Patrice Bergeron announced his retirement earlier this week, some notable figures across the sports world have weighed in to congratulate the Bruins legend on his 19 seasons in the NHL.
Among those to offer kind words was Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who was asked about Bergeron’s retirement before a training camp practice on Thursday.
“Obviously great,” Belichick said of Bergeron. “All the coaches that have been here — Claude [Julien], Bruce [Cassidy] and Jim [Montgomery] now — everybody’s raved about him and what he’s meant to the team and the organization.
“Sounds like he was kind of their Devin McCourty,” Belichick added. “Just did everything right. Great leader and player. So, congratulations on a tremendous career.”
A Belichick comparison to McCourty is high praise. When the 35-year-old safety announced his own retirement earlier in 2023, the Patriots coach highlighted not only McCourty’s ability and success on the field, but also for being “a pillar of professionalism, unselfishness, work ethic, preparation, intelligence and performance.”
Also like McCourty, Bergeron was an increasingly rare example of a player who stayed with the same team for his entire career. The 38-year-old Canadian was drafted 45th overall by Boston in 2003.
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