Robert Kraft said in a recent interview that the best decision he has ever made as owner of the New England Patriots was hiring Bill Belichick, but it seems like the coach was bothered by the phrasing his former boss used.
Kraft was a guest last month on a live version of the “Dudes on Dudes” podcast, which is hosted by former Patriots stars Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski. When asked what his best move was in 30-plus years of team ownership, Kraft immediately pointed to the hiring of Belichick as head coach in 1999.
The 84-year-old said he took a “big risk” by doing so.
“The one that got questioned the most was in 1999,” Kraft said. “I gave up a No. 1 draft pick for a coach that had only won a little over 40 percent of his games to get him out (of his New York Jets contract). … I think getting Bill Belichick to come to the Patriots in 1999 was a big risk and I got hammered in the Boston media, but he was with us for 24 years and we did okay.”
On Wednesday, Belichick responded to Kraft’s comments in a statement to ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. The North Carolina coach said he was the one who took a “big risk” by accepting the Patriots job.
“As I told Robert multiple times through the years, I took a big risk by taking the New England Patriots head coaching job,” Belichick said. “I already had an opportunity to be the Head Coach of the New York Jets, but the ownership situation was unstable.
“I had been warned by multiple previous Patriots’ coaches, as well as other members of other NFL organizations and the media, that the New England job was going to come with many internal obstacles. I made it clear that we would have to change the way the team was managed to regain the previously attained success.”
Belichick then noted how the Jets were not far removed from an AFC Championship Game appearance under Bill Parcells at the time Belichick bailed on them for the Patriots. The 73-year-old also mentioned to Van Natta that the Patriots “were $10 million over the cap heading into my first season as Head Coach in 2000.”
“I appreciated Robert giving me the opportunity to make those changes and build a program that was consistent with my vision for a championship team,” Belichick said.
Though he went 36-44 as head coach of the Cleveland Browns from 1991-1995, Belichick won multiple championships as a defensive coordinator with the New York Giants. He also helped lead the Patriots to a Super Bowl in 1996 while working on Parcells’ staff. Kraft did not mention any of that while speaking about the “big risk” he took while hiring Belichick.
It is clear that the tension between Kraft and Belichick continues to linger.
