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At the height of the New England Patriots dynasty, Bill Belichick had a famous rulebook. Super Bowl LI MVP Julian Edelman remembers Belichick’s most ‘memorable’ rule.
“The most memorable rule that I always remember him saying is nothing can burn, nothing can burn in your hotel rooms,” Edelman told PK Press Club Digital in August, while promoting the sleeping pill Unisom.
“‘I don’t care if it’s incense, it smells like sage, if it burns you can’t have it.'”
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Julian Edelman (11), then a wide receiver for the New England Patriots, warms up before a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium on December 15, 2019. (David Kohl/USA TODAY Sports)
And just as Belichick was particularly attentive to what players inhaled, he was also particularly attentive to what they chewed.
“We tailor everything we do to each individual, so we train players at 185 pounds, we train players at 350 pounds,” Belichick said in 2017, according to NFL.com.
For Edelman, this manifested itself in a high-tech but modest approach to food discipline.
PATRIOTS COACH MIKE VRABEL REVEALS THE EXTREME SACRIFICE HE MADE TO HIS MALE ANATOMY TO WIN THE SUPER BOWL
Head coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots talks to Julian Edelman #11 in the first half against the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on January 24, 2016, in Denver, Colorado. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
“Basically, I would have a nutritionist who would be on staff, Ted Harper, and they would communicate with one of my bosses, and they would see how my practice was going by my data on what our GPS says about how much load I had that day, and they would match it to my blood type,” Edelman said, adding that the science was so precise that he had to cut out the mustard and almonds.
Belichick’s strict, calculated approach to player management was a defining quality that earned New England six Super Bowl trophies and nine appearances under the coach from 2000 to 2023. The Patriots won 266 regular season games, captured 17 AFC East titles and 31 playoff victories during his reign.
Despite all this, Belichick would have missed his entry into the Hall of Fame in the first round.
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New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick smiles as he leaves the field during an NFL football training camp in Foxborough, Mass., Wednesday, June 5, 2019. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
ESPN first reported that Belichick will not enter the Hall of Fame this time around. The outlet reported, citing sources, that Belichick was “puzzled” and “disappointed” by the decision and was wondering what more he needed to do as head coach to get in immediately.
“Politics has kept him away. He doesn’t think it reflects his accomplishments,” another source told ESPN.
The Patriots are returning to the Super Bowl for the first time since Belichick left the team after the 2023 season, under his protégé Mike Vrabel.
They will face the Seahawks in a rematch of Super Bowl XLIX, when Edelman helped secure the first of New England’s three Super Bowl victories in the 2010s.
