ESPN is a joke for even airing this take on Bill Belichick
By Jerry Trotta
ESPN is a joke for airing analyst Bart Scott’s take on Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.
The gargantuan standards that the New England Patriots have set for themselves over the last 20 years has seen head coach Bill Belichick become the subject of harsh criticism for both fielding a flawed roster and not getting the most out of his players so far this season. The nerve, right?
The established class of the NFL are are off to their worst start in two decades and look like a long shot to make the playoffs. A loss to Buffalo on Sunday would mark the longest losing streak of the Belichick era and leave the Patriots with one of the worst records in the AFC.
We don’t even want to fathom the media’s reaction if that comes to fruition, but, in living up to its reputation, some members have already begun jumping the gun as it pertains to delivering scorching takes about the Patriots. Former Jets and Ravens linebacker Bart Scott appeared on ESPN’s “Get Up” on Friday and had the audacity to say that Belichick “the general manager” should be fired.
It was pretty evident where Scott was going with this slanderous take from the beginning, and ESPN is honestly a joke for not cutting to a commercial or muting his microphone as soon as he mentioned Tom Brady as the “perfect eraser.”
Fire Bill Belichick? ESPN is already calling for it.pic.twitter.com/YcRNON2naZ
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) October 30, 2020
Has context lost its value over the years? For starters, Scott failed to mention just how much Brady struggled last season with this group of receivers. His stats certainly looked good, but anybody who watched the Patriots play in 2019 knows that the defense was largely responsible for their 12-4 record.
The three-time MVP is clearly the GOAT and a Patriots legend, but calling him the sole reason why the organization has been successful for as long as it has is mind-numbingly moronic. Things somehow only got worse from there as Scott mustered the gall to compare Brady testing free agency to when LeBron James left Cleveland for the first time.
Those situations are so monumentally different that we just assumed they would never be used against Belichick in a debate about his legacy, but here we are. The comparison was so egregious that Scott’s ESPN colleague Ryan Clark felt obligated to jump in and call him out while he was spewing this nonsense.
ESPN's Bart Scott calls for the firing of Bill Belichick, the general manager https://t.co/lXVIw7Jm6v
— The Patriots Wire (@Patriots_Wire) October 30, 2020
Scott concluded with an assertion that Belichick’s ability to identify talent in the draft has been compromised, and punctuated his point by relaying the fact that he hasn’t drafted a Pro Bowler since edge rusher Jamie Collins back in 2013.
That’s true, but we’d counter by saying that Pro Bowl nominations don’t come close to providing a complete measurement of a player’s talent. The Patriots have also won three championships since 2014, so please miss us with the notion that the coaching legend hasn’t surrounded his team with sufficient talent through the years.
It’s infuriating to think that we live in a world where paid analysts — let alone one who played in the AFC East for four seasons — are convinced that Belichick should be fired in any capacity. If that doesn’t perfectly encapsulate the revolving door of chaos that is 2020, then nothing does.
