Just one year after retiring from the New England Patriots, Rodney Harrison was faced with the unenviable task of criticizing Bill Belichick on national television.
It happened after Belichick’s ill-fated decision to go for it on fourth-and-two in his own territory late in a 35-34 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 10 of the 2009 season. Then a rookie analyst for NBC, Harrison was asked for his opinion on the decision.
He answered the question honestly.
“They’re like ‘Rodney, we have to come to you.’ I’m like, ‘Holy crap! You’re coming to me?’” Harrison told ESPN’s Mike Reiss recently. “And they’re like, ‘Yeah, a 1-on-1, and Bob [Costas] is going to ask if you agreed with the call, what Belichick did.’
“So they ask the question and I said that I’ve known Belichick for a long time, and I’ve seen him make a lot of decisions, but this had to be one of the worst I’ve ever seen him make.”
Talk about being thrown into the fire early in your career. It had to be tough for Harrison to have to call out the man who he won two Super Bowls with in six seasons.
To his credit, Belichick was not fazed by the remarks. Harrison told Reiss that he has made it clear to his former players in broadcasting that they have the freedom to say what they want about him, even if it is unflattering.
“I was just up there for the Patriots Hall of Fame [in 2019], and Belichick told me and Willie McGinest, ‘Look, if you guys have to criticize me, I understand it. You have a job to do,’” Harrison said. “I was like, ‘Coach, I have no problem with that!’ It was nice for him to say that, because somebody that gave me an opportunity, who really believed in you, the last thing you want to do is criticize him. But I had to do my job.”
It is kind of refreshing to hear this type of attitude from Belichick, but it’s not that surprising honestly. Getting upset about something one of his ex-players said about him would only distract Belichick from the task at hand, which is the ultimate sin in the coach’s eyes.
The post Former Patriots Star Reveals How Bill Belichick Reacts To Criticism appeared first on The Spun.