Last October, the New England Patriots were stuck at 2-2, coming off a brutal 41-14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick almost always keeps his statements to the media brief, but entering their Week 5 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals, a more-irked-than-usual Belichick practiced ultimate brevity. That's when Belichick said, "We're on to Cincinnati" five times during a press conference, which had to leave Pats beat writers' notebooks nearly naked.
Fast-forward and Belichick is being Belichick like only he can yet again. Speaking publicly for the first time since the NFL suspended quarterback Tom Brady, fined the Patriots $1 million and took away their 2016 first-round pick and 2017 fourth-round draft pick for their involvement in Deflategate ... Belichick simply said he was turning the page forward.
"That's a long time ago," Belichick told reporters Friday, after the team's organized team activity at Gillette Stadium. "We're on to next year. It's 2015. You can forget about last year. That was last year."
Just like that, Belichick is past it. We understand that as head coach of the defending Super Bowl champions, he has to turn the page and is doing the right thing in preparing his team without looking back. However, to say that Deflategate, by any stretch of the imagination, was a long time ago, is an absolute reach. Yes, the actual crime took place last season ... but the punishment was handed down just two weeks ago.
So, save us with the "that's a long time ago," Bill.
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