Mid-week checkup
Ask him to address an injury, or identify an opponent's weakness, and Bill Belichick will respond the way you'd expect Britney Speans to answer if you asked why she broke it off with K-Fed. You know he knows the answer inside and out, but he simply isn't going to open up to the media. Unless he's asked about football history.
Then the coach can't contain himself. When the question combines his too favorite topics -- history and football -- he becomes refreshingly excited and really quite interesting. The case in point came Thursday, when Belichick was asked whether he was actually a Colts fan while growing up an hour outside Baltimore, in Annapolis, Md.
"I was," he said, a smile fighting his smirk for face time. "A Don Shula fan. Shula. [Johnny] Unitas. I could name a lot of guys on those teams."
Then he proceeded to do just that. The ball got rolling, and Belichick couldn't contain himself.
"The Colts, they were awesome," he said. "You had Unitas. You had [Raymond] Berry. [Jimmy] Orr. Lenny Moore, who was a great player for them. Defensively, [Gino] Marchetti and [Ordell] Braase, “Big Daddy” [Gene] Lipscomb, [Art] Donovan, [Don] Shinnick, [Bill] Pellington, Bobby Boyd, all of those guys. [David] Lee the punter. I could go down and give you the whole team if you want them.
"You couldn't do any better than Shula. They had their weekly TV show, 'Corralling the Colts.' Don would come in. He'd talk about the game and they'd interview the players, preview the next game and all of that. There were only three channels back then too. It wasn't like it is now where you get 400 cable stations. So that was a big deal."
Belichick was particularly fond of Shula because of the relationship Shula had with Belichick's father, and because the former Colts and Dolphins coach would invite the Belichicks to training camp and a couple games each year. He also has a soft spot for the organization because it was where Ted Marchibroda gave him his first shot in coaching, and because of its special place in NFL lure.
"I still remember watching the championship game in (1958)," he said of his 6-year-old self, "watching [Alan] Ameche go and beat the Giants, I'm sure a lot of us do that are my age or older, remember that game. and that game was probably as much a part of pro football as any game."
In a strange twist of fate, Belichick was also an indirect part of football's return to Baltimore in the mid-1990s, when the Cleveland Browns team he was coaching announced it'd be moving to Maryland. Belichick didn't make the relocation -- he was fired before the departure -- but he wasn't surprised the sport came back or that it had even left in the first place.
"I understand how that kind of stuff happens," he said. "Look, when I was with the Colts, and I've told this story before, but after my year with the Colts, when I was making 25 dollars a week, and I was sitting in there and Coach Marchibroda's office, I told him the only thing that I needed was a car, because I lived in Annapolis and our offices were in Hunt Valley, which was about an hour and 15 minutes away.
"I said, ‘Look, all I need is a car and just a little bit of money because I can live at home. That's it.' So Ted said, ‘It will be hard to get you a car and all this and that,' so he kind of said, ‘Well how about four grand a year?' I said, ‘That would be great. I could more than make it on four grand a year.'
"So then we had a meeting with Joe Thomas, and the meeting started at, I would say about 11 o'clock or maybe 11:15. Joe Thomas was the general manager at that point. That meeting lasted until about 12:45. Basically what Joe Thomas said, to make a long story short, basically what Joe Thomas said was, ‘Look, when I coached with the Rams in '52, we had two coaches. Ted you have six and now you want another one here [and that will make] seven, and four grand. If Billy wants to be here next year, he can come back here in training camp like he did this year.' That's basically the way it ended.
"Joe says at 12:45, ‘Okay, I have to go, I have to meet with…' whoever the Baltimore County executive was, ‘About building a new stadium.' So he left and the meeting was at 12 o'clock. Ted and I looked at each other and said, ‘Here we are. $4,000 for me as a coach's assistant and Joe Thomas is 45 minutes late, in even leaving, for a meeting with the Baltimore County executive about building a stadium.'
"Ted kind of gave it one of those, ‘Do you see what I'm going through?' That's really kind of the way that whole thing went. I know that Ted did all he could and Joe just wasn't going to go along with it, which he was the General Manager, so that was his prerogative. That's where it ended. So I ended up in Detroit."
And the rest -- as Belichick prefers -- is history.
COLTS CONTINUE
The most stunning aspect of this season's AFC tournament has been the sudden resurgence of an Indianapolis defense that was poorly ranked throughout the regular season -- but has totally limited both Kansas City and Baltimore through two rounds.
The Colts have been so improved it would seem their must be a reason. They must have changed something. Or at least tweaked it. Not so, says Belichick.
"I think they're basically playing the same defense that they've played all year," he said. "I think there were several comments from a couple of the Colts coaches, Coach [Ron] Meeks, Coach [Tony] Dungy, relative to the same thing, and that's what I see. I've always thought they've been a good defensive football team period. They're fast. They're quick. They have a good scheme. They're sound. They don't give up a lot of big plays. They're playing their best football right now, which I don't think that's unusual, either."
In other words, even while the Colts were struggling, and letting journeymen like Ron Dayne run all over them, it was really just a matter of time until Indy put it all together.
"They have a good football team," Belichick said. "They were what 9-0? 8-0? Whatever it was this year. People talk about the Colts struggling. I'd like to be struggling at 9-0."
LIGHTS OUT
A week after ably dealing with Shawne Merriman there will be no rest for Matt Light this week, when he'll be the blocker most often assigned to Indy's Dwight Freeney. The Colts' premier pass rusher had only 5.5 sacks this season, but posted double-digits in that category during each of his first four pro seasons and is a formidable force.
Light, though, doesn't seem to be letting the weight of responsibility ruin his good time. He wasn't speaking to the media in the locker room Thursday, refusing requests, but that didn't stop him from cracking a couple jokes and complimenting one reporter on what Light believed to be a wonderful mustache.
KLECKO KEEPS CONTRIBUTING
Adam Vinatieri won't be the only ex-Patriot facing off against the team he once helped win world championships. Defensive hybrid Dan Klecko is also with the Colts this season, going to Indy after three seasons in New England and continuing to play a variety of positions.
He's added size, and is now primarily a defensive lineman, though he still seems time as a lead-blocking fullback near the goal line, and even caught a touchdown toss from Manning during the regular season. He is also still involved across special teams.
TUNE IN TODAY
If you've got the day off from school or work, or are able to duck out early, tune into the NFL Network this afternoon for comprehensive coverage of the AFC and NFC championship games. Beginning with the Patriots at 1:30, the Network will show press conferences from each of the four teams still alive, with the Colts at 2:30, Bears at 3:30 and Saints at 4:30. Then, at 5 p.m., will be a Game of the Week segment featuring last week's Pats-Chargers game.
Matter of fact, right now I'm watching Super Bowl XXXVI, and as I post the Pats have a 14-3 lead just after halftime. It's kind of strange because I forget some of these Patriots players even existed, there is clearly more contact allowed in the passing game, and Mike Vrabel just whacked Kurt Warner in the head -- and it didn't negate Ty Law's interception touchdown return.
"This is ShockDome 36," Pat Summerall just said.
And that's some history Belichick wouldn't mind repeating on Sunday.
Check back for the Four Downs tomorrow, and the Monitor's print edition will be full with Pats coverage all week, so look here too.
-Dave
