NFL writer Peter King has made a living with words, and he had a very strong series of words to describe Bill Belichick and his behavior during a controversial interview with CBS last weekend.
During an appearance on Sports Media with Richard Deitsch, King was asked for his reaction to the video that emerged last week of Belichick’s 24-year-old girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, interrupting an interview with Tony Dokoupil of CBS Mornings, in which she stopped Belichick from answering certain questions and generally micromanaged the affair.
King did not hold back.
“This is a guy who owned every room he ever walked into, and now he’s got a 24-year-old muse telling him what to do or trying to control situations that, quite frankly, she has nothing to do with or should have nothing to do with,” King said. “Bill’s got to get a hold of himself here. He’s got to get a hold of this situation. This is embarrassing. It’s totally embarrassing for a guy who’s as great at his job as he is.”
Since the interview clip aired, Belichick and Hudson have criticized and blamed each other for the fallout.
For his part, Belichick claims that the interview was only supposed to be about the book, and Dokoupil violated that understanding by asking personal questions about the former Patriots coach’s relationship with Hudson. CBS fired back by saying Belichick had agreed to an interview with “no preconditions or limitations.”
King also took exception to Belichick showing up to the interviewer wearing a sweatshirt with a hole in it.
“Bill Belichick, to promote a book, goes on Sunday morning television for however long it was, say 10 minutes, goes on Sunday morning television with a sweatshirt on with a hole in it,” King said. “Look at the video of it. He’s got a Navy sweatshirt on that has a hole in it… why does TMZ have him walking out of the Ritz Carlton hotel in New York in a perfectly tailored blue suit. Why? Where is he going? Why is he on a national TV show looking like he’s going to a press conference in Foxboro on no sleep, and then he walks out of a hotel going wherever he’s going… that was a terrible look in the first place.
“Anyone who watched that piece, anyone, look, I’m just saying for me, if I’m watching that, I’m not buying this idiot’s book. Why would I buy this guy? I hate this guy. That is going to be the impression I get.”
It should be noted that Belichick and King have had their differences in the past.
While the two initially had a good relationship during King’s time covering the Giants with Newsday in the late 1980s, when Belichick was the defensive coordinator, the relationship soured after King’s criticism of Belichick during the SpyGate Scandal in 2007.
In a 2023 article in The Athletic, King revealed that the two hadn’t spoken in 17 years.
“That’s the cost of doing business sometimes,” King told The Athletic’s Dan Pompei. “He’s one of the greatest coaches of all time. I’m not sure I put him above Paul Brown, but he’s right up there with the greatest to ever coach in any sport. But I think what he did in 2007 was wrong.”
