The furious Bill Belichick email that was leaked by girlfriend Jordon Hudson following his train-wreck CBS interview sheds light on the coach’s rift with Tom Brady and the quarterback’s 2020 departure from New England, according to long-time Patriots fan Bill Simmons.
The University of North Carolina head coach sat down with CBS Mornings to promote his new book ‘The Art of Winning: Lessons from My Life in Football’ last month. Unfortunately for the couple, Belichick, 73, and Hudson, 24, went viral for all the wrong reasons when the former cheerleader made a spate of awkward headlines for muscling in on her boyfriend’s interview.
The extremely uncomfortable moment, which saw her shut down a grilling over their love life, sparked a wave of fears from fans – and even Belichick’s close friends – over the dynamic of their relationship. In the aftermath of the controversy, further reports emerged shedding light on Hudson’s alleged shocking on-set behavior and her involvement in the North Carolina head coach’s professional life.
Hudson has since posted a cryptic statement on behalf of Belichick along with a picture of an April 10 email to members of his camp.
The message shows Belichick unhappy with unnamed media coverage surrounding his new book even before his regrettable CBS interview: ‘I don’t think this is fantastic, but it probably will hype the book, which is clearly the ongoing theme here. This is about what I expected from the media.’
To Simmons, a prominent sports media figure and diehard Patriots supporter, the email reveals a different Belichick than the all-business persona he cultivated in the NFL.
Belichick and Hudson are pictured at the NFL Honors event ahead of February’s Super Bowl
Tom Brady is seen alongside his old backup Jimmy Garoppolo at the 145th Kentucky Derby
‘Everyone was like, ”Patriot Way, Patriot Way, we’re just about Super Bowls,”’ Simmons told Ryen Russillo during a recent podcast, as quoted by Awful Announcing. ‘But there was clearly some sort of ego thing and it’s two guys that really understood their place in history in a whole bunch of different ways, right?
‘And it was always like, ”We’re in this together. There’s no credit,”’ he continued. ‘But the credit thing was a big part of it and [former Patriots backup Jimmy] Garoppolo is in there and [Brady’s] really thinking about — I never wanted to believe it. I never, when [ESPN’ Seth] Wickersham and people like that were reporting about it [in early 2018], and I was like, ”F*** that. I don’t wanna hear this. Stop trying to cause trouble.”’ But there clearly was a ton of trouble.’
According to that 2018 ESPN report, Belichick was frustrated that Brady’s desire for a long-term deal effectively forced the Patriots to trade away a promising 26-year-old quarterback in Garoppolo, who Brady supposedly viewed as a threat.
The five-time Super Bowl MVP allegedly refused to mentor Garoppolo, who the Patriots has been trying to sign to a long-term contract. But, without any guarantee of when Brady would retire, Garoppolo reportedly turned down several offers that would have paid around $17 million per season – a starting quarterback’s salary in the NFL.
Prior to the 2017 season, Brady signed a two-year extension worth $28 million that also carried an additional $28 million signing bonus. The contract was designed to allow the Patriots some flexibility with the Garoppolo situation, in part, because Belichick opposed the idea of giving Brady a longer deal.
Brady and Belichick reportedly had ‘a little blowup’ during an October meeting, shortly after which, Garoppolo was traded to the San Francisco 49ers.
Ultimately it was Kraft who pushed to deal Garoppolo after a heated half-day meeting with Belichick because Brady’s backup was not in the owner’s long-term plans.
According to friends, this left Belichick quite upset.
Belichick’s girlfriend Jordon Hudson shared an email from the coach to Instagram Tuesday
The 24-year-old had muscled awkwardly into boyfriend Bill Belichick’s CBS interview
Tom Brady #12 and Jimmy Garoppolo #10 of the New England Patriots run onto the field before a game against the Atlanta Falcons on October 22, 2017. Garoppolo would be traded a year later
Tom Brady hugs head coach Bill Belichick after winning the AFC Championship in 2018
Bill Simmons believes Belichick’s furious internal email shows the real ego he’s been hiding
Brady and Belichick have spoken glowingly about each other since their split, even as the quarterback won a Super Bowl with the Buccaneers in February of 2021.
According to Simmons, Brady’s lone Super Bowl victory without Belichick speaks to the core of their feud.
‘I think that really explained to me why Brady didn’t end up [re-signing] with the Patriots because what everybody was writing about and doing the sports radio topic of ‘who’s more responsible for all the Super Bowls: Belichick or Brady?’ he said. ‘And the right answer was always both. They needed each other and that’s the answer.
‘But clearly, they both kind of thought each of them was more responsible than the other. So when I read that paragraph [in the email] I thought, ‘Man, Belichick must have been so pissed when Brady had that Tampa season where he won the тιтle. Because clearly he does give a s*** about all this stuff.’
Although Garoppolo did lead the San Francisco 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance at the end of the 2019 season, he never quite became the quarterback that Belichick once envisioned. He has since bounced from San Francisco to the Las Vegas Raiders and now the Los Angeles Rams, where he serves as a backup to Matthew Stafford.
