Patriots: Belichick‘s trip to Cleveland wasn’t just a business trip. It had historical significance as well

Posted By on October 16, 2022

Image courtesy of Mike Reiss

Bill Belichick considers himself as a historian of the game. That is why this weekend’s game in Cleveland was about more than just winning a football game. It was also a history field trip of sorts for Belichick and the Patriots.

The Patriots beat the Browns 38-15 and Belichick picked up win number 324, tying him with Halas for second place on the all time wins list for a head coach. Belichick holds the late Halas in high regard. His father Steve Belichick was friends with Halas. Tying Halas today meant a lot to Belichick.

“George Halas, Paul Brown, I probably shouldn’t make that list. They were my idols. Coach Halas was again a friend of my dad’s. My dad knew people on the staff that coached for Coach Halas. He coached Bill Wade at Vanderbilt, so they had a lot of Chicago-Halas connections.” Belichick continued: “When they came to Baltimore, we would go to the locker room after the game, stuff like that. They were always very gracious and generous. They let me hang around and stuff like that. A ton of respect for Coach Halas and the McCaskey family, and what he did for professional football and the way that he – and since we’re here, Paul Brown – and others like that paved the way for us as coaches and paved the way for the National Football League to grow into what it is today. They laid a lot of the building blocks.”

However today was about more than beating the Browns and tying Halas.

After the game, Belichick told his players to go back out on the field and look at the names on the Browns Ring of Honor. To Belichick, men like Paul Brown, Marion Motley and Bull Wills weren’t just NFL great. They played an essential role in making the game more inclusive for all players.

“Yeah. Thanks. I told them after the game. As many know, our players are very active in social justice and inequality and things like that. I told them how important five of those names are. All of them are great players up there and great people up there, so I’m not saying that. But there’s five that to me really absolutely stand out on the Mount Rushmore of this conversation. Paul Brown for reintegrating the NFL. He came into the NFL through the All-American Conference with Bill Willis and Marion Motley. So those three.”

Belichick also took time to talk about Ozzie Newsome. He coached Newsome in Cleveland and gave him his first front office job with the Browns.

“Ozzie Newsome being one of the first black players in Alabama and one of the great ones. Great player. Great general manager. Great person. Then of course, the great Jim Brown. He kind of stands above everybody with what he’s done for equality, what he stands for, what he was as a football player, what he is as a man.”

Today was not only a special day for Belichick, but it was a special day for the Patriots as well. It all played out how Belichick had hoped for. The team won, he tied a legend in wins and his team learned an important history lesson.