For a coach and a team that's so careful on a weekly basis not to create bulletin board topics, Belichick has knowingly created material for one of his division rivals.
"I met Belichick at Richard Seymour's father's wedding last offseason and thought he was a pretty cool guy," Bills offensive lineman Jonas Jennings said on WWZN in Boston yesterday. "I just heard all of this stuff [about the book]. I don't know why he would say something like that. I thought I played pretty well against the Patriots." Belichick has never denied anything Holley has written, but he certainly has tried to distance himself from the book and the comments Holley gathered the past two seasons.
In an interview with the Buffalo media, Belichick -- asked whether his sentiment in the book that Bledsoe wasn't a good decision-maker under pressure were his true feelings -- responded, "I'm not getting into any book talk. We're getting ready for a game. That book . . . some of it was done a year to two years ago, and I don't think it's very relevant to this week's game."
In April 2002, Belichick didn't have any problem trading Bledsoe to a division rival for a first-round draft pick. Bledsoe led the Bills from three wins to eight in his first season, and then fell apart last season. Belichick says in the book that Bledsoe can't beat a Cover-5 zone. When told of the comment, Bledsoe said, "Hmmm. OK. In general, I've always wanted to attack down the field."
Belichick's cutting of Milloy prior to last season's opener sent shock waves through the team, as Holley's book also points out, and was clearly a factor in the Patriots' 31-0 loss to Buffalo in Game 1. Otherwise, New England has dominated the Bills.
In his column Wednesday in the Buffalo News, Jerry Sullivan writes of Belichick, "He owns Bledsoe and Milloy. He owns Tom Donahoe, the scouts, Ralph Wilson. Belichick owns everything but the Peace Bridge. He doesn't care if anyone knows it, either. Why do you think he allowed a writer to follow him around in the first place? He wanted the publicity. Belichick wanted his genius to be chronicled for all the world to see. The book accomplishes that. It basically paints New England as the model franchise of today's NFL. The Bledsoe-Milloy Bills have become his favorite foil, a dumping ground for his used-up players, the inverse of his football vision."
