Most of us heard Bill Belichick's pre-draft conference call with the media on Monday and didn't really hear anything out of the ordinary. The Patriots coach dodged questions about Tom Brady's departure, gave some fairly generic answers about the draft process, said he's learned some new technology while having to operate remotely ... nothing crazy.
But Skip Bayless ... well, Skip Bayless heard something else. While the rest of us were asleep at the wheel, the host of FS1's "Undisputed" apparently heard one of the most important things Belichick has ever said: "Stid."
That's right. That one little four-letter nickname for quarterback Jarrett Stidham was a big deal according to Bayless.
"Belichick just called him 'Stid,'" Bayless said "Stid? I have been closely observing Bill Belichick for these 20 years, in large part because of Tom Brady. But in all those 20 years of me following the Patriots … I can't remember one time that Bill Belichick ever referred to any player he's ever coached by his nickname. He's not a nickname user. Especially with an unproven, young quarterback, a second-year quarterback. What are you doing? Seriously? Stid? Did he ever call Tom 'Tommy'? No. Not one time that I ever heard.
"...To me, the coach who never says anything in any sort of press conference situation, or in this circumstance a conference call, he said volumes by calling the young quarterback, that we all think he's going to try to make his starting quarterback, he called him by a nickname. He called him 'Stid.' He used affection that he would never use for any other player, and I thought that one tiny, little, four-letter nickname spoke volumes about what he's about to try to do.
"This is his 'Tommy.' This is the kid that he's going to say 'watch this' with. 'I found him in the fourth round. He's going to be my new Tom Brady.' … Now he's going to say, Bill Belichick, 'I'm starting over with Jarret Stidham -- Stid -- because I'll show you I can win with just any ol' quarterback, even my fourth-rounder that I picked when nobody else loved Jarrett Stidham.'"
So there you have it. Belichick referring to Stidham as "Stid" secretely revealed his love of the second-year quarterback and his plan to hand him the keys and prove all the doubters wrong.
Or maybe Belichick actually has used nicknames before and saying "Stid" doesn't mean anything at all and Skip is getting a bit desperate.
"I can't remember one time that Bill Belichick ever referred to any player he's ever coached by his nickname. He's not a nickname user. Especially with an unproven 2nd-year quarterback. What are you doing? Stid? Seriously?"— @RealSkipBayless pic.twitter.com/BaKaGGgwmM
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) April 14, 2020
