What could have been, the Foxborough faithful can only dream.
In his forthcoming book, “The Art of Winning: Lessons from My Life in Football,” Bill Belichick reveals one big regret during his 24 years as the top dog in New England: pᴀssing up on Lamar Jackson. Twice.
The former Patriots head coach dedicates an entire chapter in his new book to “Mistakes” — chief among them, the team’s inability to retain Tom Brady in 2020 due to financial constraints.
But if Belichick is going to shoulder blame for pᴀssing up on a would-be star quarterback in Jackson, 30 other sets of head coaches and general managers should, too.
The Baltimore Ravens called his name at No. 32, and the signal caller has twice been named MVP in the seven seasons since.
In 2017, Belichick’s Patriots were fresh off a run to the AFC Championship Game and two years removed from perhaps the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history: A 34-28 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.
Brady would soon turn 41, and there had been discussion about New England searching for a successor — perhaps even trading up for Baker Mayfield. Both he and Jackson had been hosted for visits before the draft.
Neither were meant to be. At No. 23, the Patriots selected Isaiah Wynn, offensive tackle from Georgia; in keeping with the Bulldog theme, running back Sony Michel was selected at No. 31 — one pick before Jackson.
Wynn started 50 games for New England from 2019-2022, while Michel, at least for a time, played to his potential and more.
In 2018, then-23, the rookie ran for 931 yards and six touchdowns in the regular season; in the postseason, he added 336 rushing yards and another six touchdowns en route to the Patriots 2018 Super Bowl victory over the Los Angeles Rams.
Jackson, meanwhile, spent most of 2018 on Baltimore’s bench. When he did replace Joe Flacco late in the year, he struggled — especially in the Ravens’ wild-card loss to the Chargers, completing just 14 of 29 attempts.
Baltimore went on to make the playoffs five of its next six seasons — advancing as far as the AFC Championship round in 2024.
That’s more than Belichick and the Patriots can say.
New England lost in the wild card round in 2019, Brady left ahead of the 2020 season and the dynasty-depleted Patriots finished below .500 in three of the four following seasons before the legendary coach parted ways with the franchise.
Belichick then took over as coach of North Carolina after a year away from the sidelines.
Don’t expect the head coach to tell-all of those middling post-Brady years in “The Art of Winning.” Nor of either “Gate.”
The names “Robert Kraft” and “Aaron Hernandez” don’t appear in any of the 289 pages, but readers can, if nothing else, take solace in a thank you to “idea mill and creative muse, Jordan Hudson.”
