Bill Belichick led the New England Patriots to their first of six Super Bowl championships in 2001. One of the team’s former players didn’t appreciate the head coach downplaying the roster’s talent value.
In an interview with The 33rd Team last week, Belichick said he didn’t inherit a particularly strong unit when taking the job in 2000.
“When the opportunity came in 2000, even though this team was nowhere near the team that we left in ’96, it had declined quite a bit, there were still a few pillars here that we could build with,” Belichick said. “And I’d say by ’03 — even though we won in ’01 — by ’03 this was a pretty good football team in all three phases of the game. It kind of took the same basic four-year window that it took in Cleveland. Again, we were fortunate to win in ’01, but I’d say by ’03, ’04, we had one of the better teams in the league.”
Ted Johnson, a linebacker who played in New England from 1995 to 2004, pushed back on Belichick’s remarks during an interview on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Zolak & Bertrand.
“It amazes me that he would devalue or discredit the 2001 Super Bowl team,” Johnson said. “I know we were 14-point underdogs, but it’s weird. I would think he would be more proud of that Super Bowl than any of them. I take issue with these comments.”
After going 5-11 in his first season, Belichick’s Patriots reversed that record to 11-5 in 2001. But despite ranking sixth in yards and points allowed, they finished 19th and total offense and 24th in total defense with a lower point differential (+99) than any of the next five title teams.
While the 2001 Patriots exceeded expectations, the roster was also far from barren. Johnson cited Drew Bledsoe, Troy Brown, Ty Law, Tedy Bruschi, Willie McGinest, Lawyer Milloy, and Adam Vinatieri as some of the key pillars on the team before Belichick joined.