SUPER BOWL XLII

sunday, january 27

BOSTON GLOBE
Scenes From the Patriots Rally
"Coach Bill Belichick also spoke to the crowd, but he had to wait a minute to start talking because the cheers were so loud. 'We certainly appreciate your support,' said Belichick. 'You should know that you have a great group of players, and a great group of people standing behind me. No one's given you more than this group of players. I'm sure they'll give it to you again this week.'"
full gallery

Bill Belichick Press Conference Upon Arriving in Arizona
"On behalf of the organization, it's a privilege to be here playing in the Super Bowl and representing the AFC. We certainly have a lot of respect for the Giants. It's an organization that I have quite a bit of history with and have a lot of respect for those people – John Mara, Jerry {Reese}, Tom {Coughlin}, the job they have done and the football team they have. I certainly have fond memories from the years that I was there but for this week we will turn the page and it should be a great competition on Sunday. We have obviously seen them in the postseason games and the last regular season game. They are an outstanding team and do a lot of things well. We have a lot to get ready for. We know we are going to have to play our best game Sunday to be competitive with them. We're looking forward to getting going down here. We had a good week of work in Foxboro. I don't know whether the weather is that much better, but whatever it is, we'll deal with it, but we're happy to be here and it's a privilege to represent the AFC."
If he has disdain for the process of having to meet with the media every day: "Not at all. I think that you all have a job to do, and you're our connection between our football team, our fans, and the people who have an interest in the game. So I respect the job that you do and I hope you respect the job that I have to do. I understand that sometimes I can't give you everything you're looking for, but I do know that this is the conduit of information from the team to the fans, and the fans are what drive the game. So I'm all for it. Nobody's more in favor of this game than I am."
full video + transcript

monday, january 28

NEW YORK TIMES
Belichick Left the Giants, But They Haven't Left Him
"On Sunday, Belichick's career will come full circle, the team he has built into a dynasty and coached to the verge of a perfect season needing to vanquish for the second time this season the one that, for 12 years, shaped so much of what he is today. When the Giants had success in the past, Belichick would call the former Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi to congratulate him. 'There is still a lot of Giants in me,' he told Accorsi more than once. For one day, at least, the Giant in him will be subsumed."
full story + photos

CNBC PRESENTS
"Touchdown! The Patriots and the Business of Winning"
"Belichick has fit brilliantly despite, or because of, a famously taciturn temperament – especially with the media. He agreed to sit down with CNBC to talk about the man who signs his checks. CNBC: What kind of boss is Bob Kraft? Belichick: My relationship with Mr. Kraft is more as a partner … you know, certainly he's the boss; he owns the team. But we work more as partners in terms of trying to do things together in the best interest of the football team and the organization."
full transcript | full slideshow | full section | full video | bb video

PATRIOTS NOW
Off To Practice
"It was back to work Monday as the Patriots hit the practice field in Arizona. Patriots Now was there as the players left. Catch it now on Patriots Now!" {Video includes BB}
full video

Bill Belichick Press Conference from Arizona
"We just got off the field a little while ago.  It's good to be out in the warm sunshine in Arizona.  All of the facilities have been outstanding – the Westin, the people on the Super Bowl Committee that have escorted us around and set up things for us at the hotel, the Arizona State facility and all the places in between have been great.  It's obvious they have put a lot of work into this event and so far it seems to be going really smoothly for us.  We appreciate everything everybody has done to accommodate this huge event.  It was good to get out on the field and review some of the things we worked on in Foxboro last week and also ingest a couple new things in situations.  We still have a lot of time left and a lot of  work left to do.  The Giants are a very hard team to prepare for and the process is underway.  We get a media day event tomorrow and then get back on the field on Wednesday and pick it up from there."
full video | full transcript

SPORTSRADIO WEEI
Bill Belichick on The Big Show
On Eli Manning not having made any big mistakes during the playoffs: "I think it's overall execution on offense. They're staying out of long-yardage, Eli's making good decisions, the receivers are open, the offensive line is giving them good protection, they balance it off with the running game. They've been basically playing from ahead in most of the games, so they've been able to kind of dictate the tempo and the flow of the game. And as you said, they haven't made a lot of mistakes – and they haven't been forced into very many mistakes, either. So I think that's something we're going to have to find some way to do is we're going to have to force them to make a mistake. I think we just wait for them to have a bad play. We might be waiting all day and not get one."
full audio | download the mp3

tuesday, january 29

Bill Belichick at Media Day
About his pregame speech and when he starts to think about what he is going to say to the team: "I think it will probably come more as the game gets closer and we see really where our team is and maybe what the most important issues are at that point. As you know, during the course of the week sometimes things fluctuate a little bit and you want to make sure your team is focused on a particular area going into the game. Sometimes you know what that's going to be at the beginning of the week but sometimes you don't and sometimes it kind of depends on how the week goes, so probably focus on that Friday."
About this team's chemistry: "I think that there's great camaraderie on our team. I think our team has good respect for each other, as individuals and as teammates, and they get along well. There's not any issues on our team. They work hard, they try to support each other, and they try to do their job so that their teammates can do theirs. I'd say that's kind of the way it's been all year. And that's the way it's really been for quite awhile. Our team has a good appreciation and respect for each other, and I think that's healthy."
full transcript

wednesday, january 30

Bill Belichick Press Conference from Arizona
"We're all looking forward to getting back out on the field today. We had a good day over at the stadium yesterday. {It's} a beautiful facility and we're looking forward to being there Sunday night. But we have a lot of work to do here today – get into some situational stuff getting into the preparations for the Giants – third down, 2-minute, red area, things like that. So we're looking forward to getting to work on that. We know we have a lot to do so hopefully we'll have a good morning here – the weather's good, we'll have a good practice and keep getting ready for the Giants."
How having coached different positions (such as his two year stint with the Detroit Lions) has worked in his progression as a coach: "It had a lot to do with it. I think those were two of the best years that I had as a young assistant coach. In '76, I coached the tight ends for Coach {Rick} Forzano, and then ultimately for Coach {Tommy} Hudspeth after Coach Forzano resigned. And also worked with special teams and a little bit on the defensive side of the ball with people like Jerry Glanville and Fritz Shurmur and Floyd Reese. And then in '77 when Ed Hughes came in as the coordinator, then I went and coached the receivers. And again, it was an awesome experience working with the assistant coaches that were on those two staffs and to be able to work on the offensive side of the ball. I picked up some defensive experience my first year in Baltimore and then in Denver in '78, and then of course spent quite a bit of time on defense at the Giants. But those two offensive years really taught me a lot about offensive terminology and systems, and helped me become a better defensive coach later on in my career. I've always reflected back on the time that I spent as an offensive coach, whether it was at Detroit or Cleveland as a head coach when I became involved in the offense, and even in the years that I've done it here, that coaching on the offensive side of the ball helps you be a better defensive coach and coaching on the defensive side of the ball helps you be a better offensive coach. There's no question that my background there at Detroit in special teams, working with Floyd and Jerry in particular, helped enable me to get the job that I got with the Giants, which was the special teams coach in 1979 with Coach {Ray} Perkins. You never know what's going to happen, but I have a hard time picturing my career going the way it did without the two years I had in Detroit. And Mr. Ford was a great owner. He really treated us right. The Silver Dome was just built a couple years before that; it was a very exciting time to be there. I just wish we could have won a few more games."
full transcript

thursday, january 31

friday, february 1

saturday, february 2

STAR-LEDGER
Bill Belichick's Son Is A Rutgers Freshman
"The weekly routine isn't much different from that of any other freshman who lives in his dorm: Walk down College Avenue, head into the school post office and pick up a package from Dad. For him, however, the pickup always includes a little friendly ribbing from the staff. That's what happens when your father is the head coach of the New England Patriots. 'It's all for fun,' Stephen Belichick said. This week's package is filled with Super Bowl gear. There's a Patriots jacket, jersey, T-shirts and hats affixed with the Super Bowl logo in the package."
full story

Statement From The New England Patriots
"The suggestion that the New England Patriots recorded the St. Louis Rams' walkthrough on the day before Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002 is absolutely false. Any suggestion to the contrary is untrue."

sunday, february 3

PLAIN DEALER
Remember When?
"In the book 'The GM', {Ernie} Accorsi disclosed a phone conversation with Belichick in 2000 in which a suddenly humbled Belichick blurted out, 'I really screwed that thing up in Cleveland, Ernie.' Accorsi maintained then and now that Belichick did not fail. 'I told him when he came in that he needed to rebuild the team and I was not going to be there long. I left after one year,' Accorsi said. 'The year I was there, the team was competitive. And in '94, it was a damn good team. And then the next year, the team was moved and fans were rooting against them.'"
full story

BOSTON GLOBE
Adam's Role? It's Top Secret
"His name is Adams. Ernie Adams. 'Nobody knows who he is,' said former Patriots coach Chuck Fairbanks, who gave Adams his first NFL job in 1975. 'But Bill Belichick has a righthand man, and it's Ernie Adams.' One of the most influential and unrecognizable difference-makers in New England sports, Adams is Belichick's best friend and most trusted adviser in football, the genius behind the gridiron genius, a mystery man whose fingerprints are all over the Patriots' mini-dynasty yet is all but unknown beyond Gillette Stadium. Adams, who played football at Andover with Belichick, reports directly to the Patriots coach – he speaks into his headset during games – and has his hands on so many facets of the organization that even the team's top assistants struggle to define his role. His official title is football research director. … Former Patriots receiver Christian Fauria described Adams's role as 'very mysterious.' 'He's a guy who looks like he should be working for NASA,' Fauria said. 'I never really knew what he did, but sometimes I felt like he was pulling all the strings.'"
full story

SUPER BOWL XLII
New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14
Bill Belichick Post-Game Interview with Chris Myers on FOX
Myers: "Outside the Patriot locker room with Coach Bill Belichick. Coach, you haven't had this feeling for a long time. How would you describe it?"
Belichick: "Not a very good one. We're disappointed."
Myers: "Where did the game get out of hand, in your opinion? You want to talk about the last drive?"
Belichick: "We had our chances on the last drive. They made some plays, and they made big ones at the end."
Myers: "Did you expect this kind of game, in terms of a defensive low-scoring game?"
Belichick: "Well, it was a three-point game the last time we played them. We knew it was going to be a tough, hard-fought game. And it was."
Myers: "Can you talk about what the defensive plan was in that last drive? It looked like Eli Manning was going to get sacked, obviously, and he got away and completed it to Tyree."
Belichick: "Yeah, we had our hands on a few balls and we had some pressure on them. In the end, they made those plays and we didn't. That's the difference in the game."
Myers: "I know this is difficult. What do you tell your team after a perfect season up until this point?"
Belichick: "Well, we're disappointed."
Myers: "OK, Coach. Thanks very much. Appreciate it. Thanks for a great season."
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