Trump Support Caused Several Players to Turn on Bill Belichick, ESPN Reporter Reveals

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The ties to Donald Trump once ran deep through the New England Patriots, with the former president having a well-known friendship with owner Robert Kraft, head coach Bill Belichick and ex-quarterback Tom Brady.

In 2015, reporters spotted a MAGA hat in Brady’s locker. The next year, Trump read a letter of support from Belichick at a campaign rally. According to a new book from ESPN senior writer Seth Wickersham, several Patriots players turned on Belichick over his Trump support.

Wickersham’s It’s Better to Be Feared, is set to be published next month, a book that details the New England Patriots Dynasty. The ESPN preview states current Miami Dolphins coach and former Patriots assistant Brian Flores noted players were upset with Belichick and encouraged him to address the team over his support for Trump.

Belichick did, but the meeting didn’t go over well. “I don’t think he’s an intolerant coach. He isn’t a bad guy. Bill just f—ed up and justified it in a way that he would never accept from a player,” an unnamed player recalls in the book.

While players may have lost respect for their head coach, Belichick’s Trump support did not lead to any sort of coup. In fact the Patriots were crowned as champions that season, defeating the Falcons 34-28 after completing the largest comeback in Super Bowl history.

Recently, Brady has attempted to separate himself from Trump a bit, even mocking the former president earlier this year during a visit to the White House with his Super Bowl winning Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Belichick also slightly detached himself from Trump, when the former president attempted to honor the NFL coach with the Presidential Medal of Freedom before leaving office. But with the offer coming days after the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Belichick declined the honor.