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Bill Belichick debunks idea Tom Brady played harder this year in pursuit of revenge

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who became the first head coach in the NFL to lead his team to five Super Bowl championships, was back in front of cameras in Houston one final time on Monday, speaking with media after Brady received the Super Bowl LI MVP trophy.

Belichick gave a long opening statement, noting off the top that this season and this championship are sweeter given that his sons, Stephen and Brian, are part of the Patriots’ staff – Stephen served as the team’s safeties coach this year and Brian was a scouting assistant who helped the coaches during the postseason.

Bill Belichick and the Lombardi Trophy. (AP)
Bill Belichick and the Lombardi Trophy. (AP)

“This season, and the way things ended last night, was a very special one for me with both Brian and Stephen on the staff; it was a tremendous feeling to put my arms around them and celebrate the results of last night,” Belichick said, adding that his oldest child, daughter Amanda, who is the women’s lacrosse coach at College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts and flew to Houston after her team’s season opener on Saturday, was also on hand, as were his longtime girlfriend, Linda Holliday, and her daughters, Katie and Ashley.

“I’m sure my mom was watching, I hope she was able to stay awake for the whole game, and I know my dad had a seat on the 50-yard line for this one,” Belichick said. His mother, Jeannette, is in her mid-90s and lives in Maryland, and his father, Steve, died in 2005.

While Belichick was of course in a good mood, he politely but firmly debunked the idea that Brady was extra motivated this year, after being forced to sit out the first four games of the season due to his deflate-gate suspension.

“With all due respect, I think it’s really inappropriate to suggest that in Tom’s career he’s been anything other than a great teammate, a great worker and has given us every single ounce of effort, blood, sweat and tears that he has in him,” Belichick said. “To insinuate that somehow this year was different, that this season he competed harder or did anything to a higher degree than he did in the past in insulting, I think, to the tremendous effort and leadership and competitiveness that he’s shown for the 17 years that I’ve coached him.

“It’s been like that every year, every day, every week, every practice. I don’t care if it’s May, August or January – Tom Brady gives us his best every time he steps onto the field.”

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Belichick is always quick to credit the players and his coaching staff when New England has success, and Monday was no different: “This team earned it. They earned it all the way from OTAs to training camp and all through the regular season, 14 wins and then three more in the playoffs. I thought we responded to a lot of challenges throughout the year. I couldn’t be prouder of these guys. What everybody saw in the fourth quarter and overtime from the New England Patriots is what I’ve been seeing for seven months.”

One last detail from the morning: Belichick said he’s already in the process of having his boat re-named; currently known as “VI Rings” (he won two as defensive coordinator of the New York Giants), it will soon be known as “VII Rings.”