SALEM GAZETTE PHOTO: "Bill Belichick greets an enthusiastic audience at Salem State. The speaking event sold out in a day and a half. (Photo by Ian Hurley)"
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Monday, May 5, 2008
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT: Jim Nantz on Sports, His Father, and Alzheimer's
His new book, 'Always by My Side', is arriving this week
"The real high-water mark for me in any broadcast is when you can really deliver a portrait – of the player, the coach, the one that the moment belongs to. A couple of years ago when Bill Belichick, coach of the New England Patriots, was taking his team on a win streak that was the longest the NFL had seen since the 1933-34 Chicago Bears, I would ask him about what that meant to him. But he was just stonewalling. During the game that was going to match the all-time record of George Halas's Bears, I said, 'Coach, let me approach this a different way. I'm sure there's no chance here, but you never met George Halas, have you?' He said, 'As a matter of fact, I did. [My dad] took me into the locker room to meet Pappa Bear. I walked up to the coach and said, 'Mr. Halas, congratulations on your win today.' He reached into his pocket, pulled out a dollar bill and said 'I always give a dollar to the first person that tells me congratulations after a win.'' Belichick didn't even realize the significance of it, but here you had this symbolic chance meeting of the founding father of the National Football League with a man who – three generations later – is the dominant mastermind in the game today."
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NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: Transactions
"The New England Patriots have signed second-year nose tackle Steve Fifita, rookie tight end Tyson DeVree and rookie punter Mike Dragosavich. Terms of the agreements were not disclosed. DeVree and Dragosavich were signed as rookie free agents following tryouts at the Patriots' rookie mini-camp this past weekend (May 2-3). Additionally, the team waived rookie offensive tackle Josh Coffman and rookie defensive lineman Carlos Feliciano."
updated rookie roster

Sunday, May 4, 2008
MIKE REISS: Belichick Gets Passing Grade for Lecture on Leadership at Salem State
"Bill Belichick stepped out of the football arena last Wednesday to speak in front of 3,500 guests at Salem State College. His hourlong presentation, called 'Success Through Preparation, Teamwork and Leadership,' drew cheers throughout the evening inside the Richard H. Rockett Arena. Wearing a suit and tie, Belichick opened by addressing the students in attendance. 'I think the best advice I can give you based on my experience and all the people I've worked with is follow your heart – do what you love, take a shot at it, and give it a chance to work out,' he said."
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LA TIMES BOOK REVIEW: 'Everything They Had' by David Halberstam
"Now, a year after his untimely death, comes 'Everything They Had: Sports Writing From David Halberstam.' This collection is culled from his magazine, newspaper and website articles, from 1955 (when he was an undergrad at Harvard) to 2006 (when he contributed to ESPN.com). Author-historian Glenn Stout, who edits the annual 'Best American Sports Writing' collection from Houghton Mifflin, selected the 44 pieces. … Halberstam was a lifelong sports fan. He relished meeting and interviewing athletes and coaches whom he respected, including Ted Williams, Bob Gibson, Bobby Knight and Bill Belichick. He regarded sports writing as a craft and often cited the influence of Red Smith, Jimmy Cannon and W.C. Heinz on his own work; they were the true 'forerunners of what became known as New Journalism' in the 1960s, he once said." [This new book includes David Halberstam's Washington Post article about Steve Belichick.]
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Saturday, May 3, 2008
REISS'S PIECES: Belichick Talks Philosophy, Mentors
"Patriots coach Bill Belichick was a surprise guest today at USA Football's coaches camp at Gillette Stadium. … 'More than anything, I just want to tell you how much I respect the job that you do,' Belichick said. 'Nobody knows more than I do how much a high school coach means to a player. When I interview players prior to the draft, at this time period when you're trying to evaluate new young guys that you don't know, there are usually two people who influence their life the most – one of their parents and their high school coach.'"
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Bill Belichick Press Conference from Rookie Mini Camp
"Third practice, I think we're plugging along, seeing some improvement. Trying to get a look at guys do things the second and third time around. In some cases you can really start to see some quick improvement, and that's a good sign; that's what we're looking for. We've tried to reinforce that, so that's part of the evaluation, too, is to see how quickly players improve when they're instructed to do something and are then corrected on it. A lot of times it doesn't look good the first time, like when all of us do things the first time, a lot of times it doesn't come out well, but as you work on it and improve and practice it and get corrected and get coached up on it then we're seeing better results. Anyway, we'll go out there again today and wrap up some of these decisions on the tryout kids and try to give the players some direction and instruction for what they need to do between now and May 15th when the rookie players are allowed to come back to the facility. Then we'll start getting ready for our passing camps at the end of the month. So that's what we're up to today."
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Friday, May 2, 2008
Bill Belichick Press Conference at Rookie Mini Camp
"Well, it's good to be back out there. Obviously there are a lot of new faces. It's always an exciting time of the year to work with new kids and see their eagerness and really start at a fundamental level with the most basic terminology, plays and techniques. It's a good reminder of where everyone has come from. Certainly these guys have a long way to go but they are all out there with a good attitude and are working hard. I met with them this morning and gave them all the information. It seemed like they were able to get most of it so we will get those things corrected and give them some more this afternoon. We will keep plugging along. It's good to be back out there. There are a lot of bodies out there so we will have to evaluate those and see how some of them shape up by the end of the weekend. I think you all had us outnumbered today. It was a pretty well-covered practice. [I] doubt that we were [able] to slip anything by you."
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NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: Rookie Free Agents Signed
"The New England Patriots have signed 11 undrafted rookie free agents – T Josh Coffman, S Mark Dillard, DT Carlos Feliciano, RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis, LB Gary Guyton, DE Chris Norwell, LB Vince Redd, NT Henry Smith, TE Jonathan Stupar, DE Casey Tyler and C Ryan Wendell. Terms of the agreements were not disclosed. New England's rookie free agents will join the seven members of the Patriots' 2008 draft class at a rookie mini-camp at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough today and tomorrow (May 2-3)."
full rookie roster

Thursday, May 1, 2008
SALEM NEWS:  The Thrill of Bill – Huge Salem State crowd turns out to cheer Coach Belichick
"Anyone who went to Salem State College last night thinking Bill Belichick was going to reveal a few trade secrets about the New England Patriots was sorely disappointed. … But none of that seemed to matter to the 3,200 faithful – many wearing team sweat shirts and hats – who packed Rockett Arena and created a traffic jam on Canal Street that looked like Route 1 in Foxboro before a Patriots game. They loved The Coach. Belichick got a standing ovation when he appeared on stage that rivaled anything given to the former U.S. presidents and world leaders who have graced the Salem State Speaker Series."
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Tuesday, April 29, 2008
PATRIOTS NOW:  Showcase Live! Unveiled "The Kraft Family unveils plans for Showcase Live!, a first-class music entertainment venue at Patriot Place. Bill Belichick, Tedy Bruschi and others were on hand for Tuesday's event, and Patriots Now brings you all the details." Bill Belichick: "We're really excited about it – it certainly beats going into Boston and fighting the traffic and all that. It makes it so convenient for us. Some of those late hours, maybe we'll pop over and see what's going on."
full video

Monday, April 28, 2008
WEEI:  Bill Belichick Radio Interview  { full transcript }
Glenn Ordway: "Bill, you just said it, you win 18 of 19 games this past year, you're sitting here in the offseason assessing what you've got. And I know you tell us this every year: each year is it's own year and it's a separate issue."
Bill Belichick: "Well, it is."
Ordway: "And I agree with that. But you know what you've lost, you know what you've gained, how do you sit and assess and say to yourself, try to figure out what you need?"
Belichick: "Well, I think you just try to keep improving your football team. That's what you do. You look at a team like Buffalo that's picked up Marcus Stroud and now made a couple draft picks – they got a good corner, they got another offensive weapon, their offensive line is better. Miami's improved. The Jets have made a lot of moves in the offseason. I mean, everybody's improving their team. And you know how it is every week in this league – it doesn't matter what you did last week or last year, every team in this league's capable of winning every game. There's no byes, there's no play down to Division 1A, AA and all that. This is the National Football League and we see teams every week upset other teams and all that. So if you don't play well you're not going to win in this league, I don't care who you are or what you did last week. So that's the way we're approaching it and I think there are a lot of things we could do better. We can do a better job of coaching, we can do a better job of playing; and those are some of the things we've tried to address in the offseason."
full transcript | full audio | download the mp3

PATRIOTS TODAY: Draft Recap, All-Access Preview
"Draft weekend 2008 supplied the Patriots with 8 new players, most on the defensive side of the ball. We break down the new infusion of youth and speed. Hear from head coach Bill Belichick, who discusses the new players and the team's drafting philosophy, plus Tom Casale tells us whether Jerod Mayo, Terrence Wheatley and others can make an immediate impact. Catch it all as Patriots Today recaps the draft."
full video

Sunday, April 27, 2008
Bill Belichick Post-Draft Press Conference
"We started off the day with the three picks in the third round and had Shawn [Crable] on the line – we were actually going to take him in that first pick and San Diego kind of swooped in there and we made the trade and picked up a second-round pick next year and ended up trading back, or losing that pick and then we slid back in and took Crable on the first of our third-round picks. We've been on him and kind of watched him for a long time with the old Michigan connection from Pierre [Woods] and the coaching staff up there that we have a pretty good relationship with. I think there are probably a lot of similarities between Shawn and Pierre – they're both tall guys, very rangy, fast, good special team players. So I think that that's, like I said, a guy that we've been on, really, for quite some time and followed with some interest.
     Kevin O'Connell is a big, strong, athletic quarterback – runs well, very athletic. Played on a passing team in a passing league, in all honesty not behind a real good line, so he was kind of on the run a little bit. But I thought he held in there and did a pretty good job of being productive, making good decisions, and a lot of times he was under a lot of pressure, as well. So we're looking forward to working with him, obviously.
     Jonathan Wilhite's a guy that we saw at Auburn this spring. Actually, Nick [Caserio] and Scott [Pioli] and I, [Defensive Coordinator] Dean [Pees], we were all there. The guy's had good production in the kicking game, good production defensively – really a three-year starter down there, other than a few games that he missed here and there. But he's been a pretty durable and productive kid. And as it goes with [Terrence] Wheatley, I think there are some similarities between those two players.
     Then we picked up Matt Slater. That was the fifth round where we, I think we moved up to get Slater, traded up for him. He's been a very productive special team player, high quality, great character kid, comes from obviously a good family.
     Then lastly, Bo Ruud. We saw quite a bit of him through the years at [Nebraska], whether it was back when they had [Adam] Carriker and the two safeties – we've been watching [Zackary] Bowman there this year, and last year the outside linebacker Stewart [Bradley]. So, they've had a lot of good defensive football players there at Nebraska, and this is kind of a senior group and we've seen him for a couple years. But he's another guy with good size, runs well and is a real competitive kid. He's a smart kid and I think he has a little bit of position flexibility for us in the inside positions, as well.
     Then of course yesterday on the [Terrence] Wheatley pick – Terrence has been a very productive player for Colorado. He's played inside and outside on corner positions, played in the slot, a good kick returner, good special teams player, good hands. Another smart kid. A very experienced player in a good passing conference, so hopefully he'll be able to give us some good depth in the secondary and also a little bit of position flexibility. So that's kind of the rundown on those players."
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Saturday, April 26, 2008
PATRIOTS TODAY: Draft Day One Recap
"Catch a behind-the-scenes look at the Patriots' draft process as Bill Belichick and company call the name of Tennessee's Jerod Mayo in Saturday's first round. We go inside the draft room, hear from Belichick and get reaction from Vince Wilfork on the pick. Plus, analysis and highlights of Mayo, all on a draft day edition of Patriots Today."
full video

Bill Belichick Press Conference Following the Patriots' First Draft Selection
"We're excited to have Jerod [Mayo] join our organization. He's a pretty versatile player. He did a lot of things down at Tennessee – he played inside, played outside, played in their subdefense, played in the kicking game. He's a smart kid, runs well, [is a] pretty physical player, and I think he'll be a good edition to our football team. Where exactly that fits, we'll just have to wait and see how that goes with all the other players we have and how he does and so forth. But he's got some versatility, played at a very high level of competition in the SEC; he played against all the best players in the country, and I thought he did a real good. We were on the clock there at 7. The timing…we did a little bit of prep work with the New Orleans trade last night and a little bit before we were on the clock. Things did go a little bit quicker than they have in the past, which was just fine; I'm glad we got that done. [We] felt like that trade was one that would help our football team and [we] feel good about that. I'm glad that we were able to get that extra pick in the third round; I think that'll be helpful at some point along the line, whether we end up using it to pick a player or trade up or whatever it is, we'll see how that goes. But we added a good player on defense, and added one last year, so hopefully we can continue to get a little bit younger on the defensive side of the ball going forward."
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NFL NETWORK:  Bill Belichick Interview
Rich Eisen: "We are now pleased to fire up PatriotsCam for the three-time Super Bowl winning head coach of the New England Patriots, and that is of course Bill Belichick joining us right now from Patriots headquarters. Coach, we appreciate you joining us. You have Jerod Mayo, a linebacker from Tennessee, now in your fold. What did you like about this young man?"
Bill Belichick: "Well, really pretty much everything. He's a physical player, good against the run, he runs well, can play in the passing game, he's a smart kid, and he's played all three positions for Tennessee. I think he also has some versatility at all three linebacker spots, and can play on fourth down and the kicking game, too. So he's a versatile player that's smart and likes football."
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Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Wesleyan University Announces First Class of Inductees Into Athletics Hall of Fame "Wesleyan University is proud to announce the selection of eight individuals and three teams into its newly established Athletics Hall of Fame. The following seven prominent Wesleyan graduates and one long-time athletic coach along with a series of three football teams will be inducted into the Wesleyan University Athletics Hall of Fame during a ceremony on Friday, May 23, 2008 at noon in Beckham Hall in Fayerweather during the university's reunion/ commencement weekend. … Chosen for the first class of inductees as individuals … [was] Bill Belichick '75, who played football, lacrosse and squash at Wesleyan and owns three Super Bowl rings as head coach of the New England Patriots of the NFL."
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