New England Patriots Rumors: Bill Belichick Goes On Angry Rant Over NFL Rule Changes
Bill Belichick is reportedly angry with the NFL, and the New England Patriots head coach wasn’t afraid to let them know in very specific terms exactly how he felt.
Reports from the NFL Annual Meeting claimed that Belichick grew irate when his proposal to add cameras to the field to aid in instant replays was tabled so it could be researched more.
As ESPN’s Adam Schefter noted, Bill Belichick gave an earful to Dean Blandino, the league’s top official.
Schefter noted (via ProFootballTalk):
“Bill Belichick got up there, and in profane language, told the NFL: ‘We spend money to send the Pro Bowl to Brazil, we spend money to go overseas to London, but we can’t spend money to have four cameras in the end zone, four cameras to help determine the correct call in the end zone on certain plays?’ He went off, and the way it was explained to me, from people in the room at the time, they were laughing at it because his language was so profane and because he was so incensed about it, and the NFL didn’t know how to handle it. But the bottom line is, they did not introduce the four cameras in the end zone, they thought right now it’s too cost-prohibitive for the NFL even, and they don’t know how to do it. They’ll probably continue to look at this, but Bill Belichick left these owners’ meetings not particularly happy.”
The New England Patriots head coach has raised that issue before. Belichick also brought up the issue last year, with the league apparently not too interested in taking up the issue.
“We just spent however many millions of dollars on the replay system,” Belichick told reporters last year. “I mean, there are 1,000 cameras in every stadium, so if somebody spills a beer on somebody, we have it on record, right? Maybe we could have a bake sale to raise some money for the cameras. We could do a car wash.”
But the NFL did take on one issue related to Bill Belichick this year. The league banned the use of ineligible players outside the tackle box, a loophole Belichick had exploited during the playoffs this year against the Baltimore Ravens.
The NFL also added what’s being called the “Julian Edelman rule,” allowing a spotter in the booth to have a player taken off the field if it appears they have suffered a head injury. The New England Patriots wide receiver appeared groggy after a hit in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl. He remained in the game, making the winning touchdown catch.
[Image via Getty Images/Jim Rogash]