FOXBOROUGH – Fittingly, Bill Belichick’s statement during a joint press conference with Robert Kraft on Wednesday afternoon was brief and to the point.

Both Belichick and Kraft each had a statement that lasted about five minutes in a jam-packed room full of cameras and reporters. Kraft was scheduled to answer questions later in the day and Bill did not take questions.

“Robert and I – after a series of discussions – have mutually agreed to part ways,” Belichick said to begin his statement. “For me, this is a day of gratitude and celebration. I’ll start with Robert and his family. Just so much thanks for the opportunity to be a head coach here for 24 years. It’s an amazing opportunity. I received tremendous support. We had a vision of building a winner, building a championship football team here and that’s exceeded my wildest dreams and expectations. The amount of success we were able to achieve together through hard work and the contributions of so many people. I’m very proud of that and will always have those great memories and I’ll carry those with me the rest of my life.”

Belichick then went on to thank staff and players that helped contribute to the unprecedented run of success.

“Of course after Robert, thanks to assistant coaches,” he said. “You know, I’ve had so many great coaches here. They’ve made my job so much easier. It’s a long list, but the amount of work, preparation and diligence they do – every one of them – and I can say this about the players and the coaches regardless of how long they were here, how many years they were here, how many years they coached or what the position was, it was a great team effort and everybody put everything they had into it and that’s why we were successful. So, the coaches, the support staff, it’s an amazing staff here that’s supported me in every way. All the scouting and then all the football support people from equipment, training, security, video, operations, and so forth right on down the line…dining room. I mean, it’s all first class. It’s all extremely good.

“Special thanks to Berg and Nancy, they’ve been here since Day 1 and made my life a lot easier. Or, I’ve made theirs a lot harder, however you want to look at it, but big shout out to them.”

Bill has long said that the players win championships, so it made sense that he reserved some time to talk about them as well.

“Of course, a great deal of thanks and appreciation to the players,” said Belichick. “Players win games in the NFL and I’ve been very, very fortunate to coach some of the greatest players that have ever played. Some of them are the greatest players that ever played for the Patriots, some of them are already in the Hall of Fame, many more are going. Again, regardless of how long any of the players were or weren’t here, what their role was or how many games they played or even if they didn’t win championships, I respect the way the players come to work here on a daily basis. All of them, and I’ve coached well over 1,000.

“Their ability to work, prepare, train in the weight room, you know…train their bodies, meet, rehearse over and over again what we need to do things right to be successful to win. I have so much respect for all the players and certainly we’ve had many that have been here for a long time that had great contributions. Too many to name at this time, but great thanks to the players.”

For years, Belichick has been viewed as a guy who hates the media and only gives them as much as he has to. That isn’t the case and during his speech he even took time to thank those that have covered him for two decades.

“To the media, for you guys, I don’t know that anybody’s gotten more coverage than I have or we have in the past 24 years,” he said. “I meet with you guys a lot and respect what you do. You’re our voice to the fans. Even though we may not see eye-to-eye all the time – most of the time, but not all the time – I do respect what you do.”

Lastly, Bill seemed to get a bit emotional while delivering his message to the fans that have enjoyed so many fond memories because of him and what he was able to build in Foxborough.

“Finally, to the fans, the fans here are amazing,” Belichick added. “There’s so many memories with the fans. The send-offs, the parades, the Sundays, whatever the situations are. The letters of support, seeing the fans away from here at a gas station or grocery store or wherever I’d bump into them, Patriot fans here – and not just in New England but they extend nationally and even internationally as I’ve traveled – it’s amazing how far the arm reaches, we saw that this year in Germany.

“So appreciative of the fans for all the support they’ve given me, my family and this football team.”

Bill’s final closing statement will be a hard one for Pats fans to swallow for now, but he’ll unquestionably be welcomed back with open arms whenever his statue goes up or a hoodie is raised somewhere inside Gillette Stadium.

“It’s with so many fond memories and thoughts that I think about the Patriots and I will always be a Patriot. I look forward to coming back here, but at this time. We’re going to move on. I look forward and am excited for the future. Always very appreciative of the opportunity here, the support here and Robert, what you’ve done for me.”

With that, a handshake, an awkward Step Brothers-like hug, a brief statement from RKK and one final walk off together officially ended the greatest era in New England sports history.