NEWNow you can listen to Pak Gazette articles!
At the height of the New England Patriots dynasty, Bill Belichick had a famous rules record. Super Bowl LI MVP Julian Edelman remembers Belichick’s most “memorable” rule.
“The most memorable rule that I always remember him saying is that nothing can, nothing that burns can be in the hotel rooms,” Edelman told Pak Gazette Digital in August, while promoting the sleeping pill Unisom.
“‘I don’t care if it’s incense, this scent, sage, if it burns you can’t have it.'”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON PakGazette.Com
Then-New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman (11) 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 picky about what players inhaled, he was also picky about what they chewed.
“We tailor everything we do to each individual, which is why we train players who are 185 pounds, we train players who are 350 pounds,” Belichick said in 2017, according to NFL.com.
For Edelman, that manifested itself in a modest but high-tech approach to the food discipline.
PATRIOTS COACH MIKE VRABEL REVEALS THE EXTREME SACRIFICE HE WOULD MAKE TO HIS MALE ANATOMY TO WIN THE SUPER BOWL
Head coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots talks with 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 was part of the team, Ted Harper, and he would contact one of my chefs, and they would see what my practice was like through my data on our GPS units and how much charge I had that day, and they would adapt to my blood type,” Edelman said, adding that the science was so precise that he had to eliminate 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’s leadership between 2000 and 2023. The Patriots won 266 regular-season games, 17 AFC East titles and 31 postseason victories during his reign.
Despite all that, Belichick reportedly failed to make the Hall of Fame on the first ballot.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE Pak Gazette APP
New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick smiles as he walks off the field during an NFL football training camp in Foxborough, Massachusetts, Wednesday, June 5, 2019. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
ESPN first reported that Belichick would not enter the Hall of Fame this time. The outlet reported, citing sources, that Belichick was “baffled” and “disappointed” with the decision and was wondering what else he needed to do as a head coach to come in immediately.
“Politics kept him out. He doesn’t think this is a reflection of his accomplishments,” another source told ESPN.
The Patriots return to the Super Bowl for the first time since Belichick left the team after the 2023 season, under the direction of his protégé Mike Vrabel.
They will face the Seahawks in a rematch of Super Bowl XLIX, when Edelman helped secure New England’s first of three Super Bowl victories in the 2010s.
