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The owner of the New England Patriots, Robert Kraft, made a recent comment that drew the attention of Bill Belichick.
Kraft said that the hiring of Belichick in 1999 was the best decision he had made as the owner of the patriots, but added that Belichick’s hiring was a “big risk”.
“The one who was most questioned was in 1999,” Kraft said last month during an appearance on “Dudes on Dudes” with Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski.
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North Caroline’s new head coach Bill Belichick talks to the Loudermilk Center for Excellence media. (Jim Dedmon-Imagn images)
“I abandoned a choice of draft n ° 1 for a coach who had won only a little more than 40% of his games to get him out. I do not know if there are fans of jets here. I think Bill Belichick came to the Patriots in 1999 was a great risk, and I was hammered in the Boston region, but it was with us for 24 years,” said Kraft.
Belichick responded to Kraft’s comments and said that taking the Patriots’ head coach position was a “big risk”.
“As I said to Robert several times over the years, I took a big risk by taking the post of head coach of the New England Patriots,” said Belichick in a statement in ESPN.
“I have already had the opportunity to be the head coach of the New York jets, but the property situation was unstable.”
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Head coach Bill Belichick, on the left, of the New England Patriots shares with the owner Robert Kraft during a press conference at the Gillette Stadium on January 11, 2024 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)
“The jets were a solid team after three years of reconstruction under Bill Parcels, which included an appearance in the AFC championship in (January) 1999.
“Meanwhile, the organization of the patriots had dismantled its 1996 AFC championship team and became one of the worst in AFC. It did not help that they were $ 10 million on the ceiling before my first season as a chief trainer in 2000.”
North Caroline’s head coach said that before taking the job of head coach, he was “warned” of “internal obstacles”.
“I had been warned by several coaches from the previous patriots, as well as by other members of other NFL organizations and the media, that New England work was going to be accompanied by many internal obstacles,” said Belichick. “I clearly indicated that we had to change the way the team managed to find the previously obtained success.”
The owner of the New England Patriots, Robert Kraft, on the left, and the head coach Bill Belichick look at the touch before the match against the Chiefs of Kansas City at the Gillette Stadium on December 17, 2023 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)
Despite the warnings he received, Belichick continued to have had one of the most successful races in the history of the NFL with the Patriots. The Patriots went 266-121 under Belichick, with six Super Bowl titles, 13 AFC championship match and 17 AFC East titles.
“I appreciated Robert (Kraft) giving me the opportunity to make these changes and build a coherent program with my vision of a league team,” said Belichick.
Although Belichick is at the forefront of the success of the Patriots, the 73-year-old man is still not at the temple of renown of the Patriots.
