Bill Belichick is apparently not a big fan of cameramen getting in the way of his Super Bowl celebrations.
In the final seconds of Super Bowl LIII, as the Patriots were waiting to take a knee and close out their sixth Super Bowl win, video showed a cameraman closing in as the New England Patriots coach celebrated with his players on the sidelines. Though the moment didn’t make it onto the broadcast for fans watching at home, those inside Mercedez-Benz Stadium saw Belichick give a healthy two-handed shove to the cameraman to get him out of their celebratory moment.
The video was captured by Marc Sessler of the NFL Network and was shared on Twitter , with fans noting that the media seemed particularly aggressive, nearly knocking over CBS sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson as she tried to conduct postgame interviews on the field.
Other pictures from the incident show that Bill Belichick appeared to be pushing back against the cameraman as he and other members of the media tried to make their way onto the field. The Los Angeles Rams missed a field goal in the closing seconds of the game, but the Patriots still needed to return to the field to take a knee and run out the clock before their victory in Super Bowl LIII was official.
Given the circumstances, it could be understood why Belichick would be so aggressive in keeping the media off the field and trying to preserve some order until the game clock reached zero.
WATCH: Bill Belichick gets physical with cameraman after SB win https://t.co/4OXa7Vx8v2
— NFL coverage by Football Alliance (@FA_NFLtweets) February 4, 2019
Bill Belichick not a fan of this cameraman. pic.twitter.com/7751JW1uxV
— Marc Sessler (@MarcSessler) February 4, 2019
This is not the first time that Bill Belichick has had a viral run-in with a cameraman in the NFL playoffs. Back in 2009, after a shocking loss to the Indianapolis Colts, cameras caught Belichick walking off the field while flanked by a bodyguard. As cameramen walked alongside the coach to get a shot of him leaving the field, the bodyguard grabbed one of them and tossed the man to the ground.
The Super Bowl LIII controversy didn’t end with Bill Belichick’s shove of a cameraman. In his postgame interview, Belichick tried to embrace the team’s sudden “us against the world” mentality that started when the Patriots were underdogs in the playoffs to the Kansas City Chiefs.
“Everybody counted us out from the beginning of the season,” he said in an interview with Jim Nantz.
“Everybody counted us out from the beginning of the season,” says Bill Belichick. STOP IT BILL.
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) February 4, 2019
Bill Belichick’s remark didn’t go over very well, especially considering the New England Patriots are perennial Super Bowl favorites.
