Steve Belichick is Not Amused with You Using Him as a Meme

Jerry Thornton10/14/2021 4:00 PM

One lesson everyone needs to learn when they're a part of the New England Patriots in the 2000s is that nothing they do is inconsequential. When you play a role in this Dynasty, you face a scrutiny that few others in any sport are subject to. From the owner getting a simple massage at a strip mall Rub & Tug palace to the whole world knowing a game day per diem worker spent 90 seconds in a bathroom with a bag of footballs, nothing you do can ever be nothing.

So when the defensive coordinator does a weirdly spastic facial tic in prime time in the tensest moments of the Game of the 21st Century, it's going to be huge. Al Michaels said as much in real time. And nothing that's happened since has proven him wrong.

So Steve Belichick faced the media for the first time since becoming a meme. And he sounds less than pleased.

“Uh, yeah, I heard about that,” he deadpanned. "I saw some of that stuff. I mean, nothing I could do about that.
I don’t know. It is what it is. But, yeah, I mean, I don’t know. There were some good ones out there. But I heard about it.
“The first person I saw after the game was [Pat] Chung, and he let me know about it. So, he thought it was funny,” he continued, not sounding at all like he thought so too. “But yeah, it was an eventful afternoon for the family, so there was a lot going on in my head outside of football. But he understood that, so he kept it lighthearted.”

You might think growing up the son of a man who has been a walking, talking meme factory ever since the meme was invented would be used to the idea by now.

And that's OK. Sometimes it's hard to see our parent's reflection in ourselves. But nature is strong like that. Genetics is the most powerful force in the world. I didn't realize how much I was like my late father until I found myself saying the same things to my kids he said to me when they got lousy grades in conduct. And again, when my hair went prematurely gray. In Steve Belichick's case, he inherited his father's talent for GIF creation. As well as his genius for designing blitz packages and disguising coverages, one can only hope. And, eventually, the ability to embrace the fact the world is obsessed with every gesture you make. It comes with the territory.

Actually the best point I've heard of all of this is that eventually that goofy tongue thing he did is eventually going to land him a job.

If you're going to separate yourself from all the other candidates, there are worse ways to brand yourself than as the eccentric genius with the mullet and the bizarre, tonguey facial expressions the world can't take their eyes off of.