The Year of Belichick Rolls on, With Taylor Swift Merch, US Navy Gear, Nantucket and a Timeless Romance
One thing you learn quickly when you reach that point in your life when people you worked with, friends or family start hitting retirement age is that reaching the end of your professional life hits everyone different.
On one extreme, there are those who do not react well to the pensioner life. At a time when I used to read the local paper and looked through the obituaries (aka the Irish Sports Page), you couldn't help but notice all the guys who had just hung it up after working at the same company for 30 or 40 years. It's the old adage that your retirement party is the second to last one they'll ever throw for you. The only one after that is your funeral.
On the other extreme, I've known a lot of retirees who are the happiest I've ever seen them. Some who look 10 years younger than when they still carried the burdens and responsibilities of employment around with them like so much baggage. Still others who seem busier than they were when they were doing their 9-to-5 thing with all their hobbies, projects and side hustles.
And of course, sometimes it's not your decision to leave, it's your employer's. But I imagine the dynamic is the same. You either suffer when your career is over, or you thrive. And there's no doubt whatsoever on which end of that spectrum Bill Belichick landed. That Summer of Belichick I kept yammering on about:
Has extended right into October. With no end in sight. He's the new King of All Media. He's dominating football broadcasts with his incomparable insights, analysis and charm. He's visiting his son and grandchild at U. of Washington. He even joined social media for the first time. And above all, continuing one of the great love stories of our time.
Here is just some the latest from Jordon Hudson's InstaFace. From his beloved Navy football:
To I'm not sure where but my very cosmopolitan Irish Rose insists is Florence:
To conquering the highest peaks:
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To golfing, possibly in heaven:
To his physical and spiritual home of Nantucket:
This is his 2024. A year that began with the Dynasty he build reduced to an empire of dirt. Releasing the quarterback who had so disappointed him. Losing his job. Getting treated in a documentary series about that Dynasty like he'd been dumping toxic waste into playgrounds. And yet here he is 10 months later living the dream.
One photo speaking a hundred thousand words. Sankaty Light behind him. Sun setting over the Atlantic. His lovely ladyfriend by his side. Proudly displaying his status as a Swiftie across his chest. Pledging his support for the brave crew of Littoral Combat Ship 27 USS Nantucketupon his mighty brow. And above all else, shines the satisfied, ear-to-ear smile of a self-actualized man.
The burdens of running a football team are someone else's problem. The worst record in the NFL is not his responsibility. A team captain getting arraigned on violent crime charges is not his concern:
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Belichick is a man in full right now. And it's getting more plausible by the day that he just sticks with this new lifestyle and never goes back into coaching. You have to admit, it agrees with him.