On May 6, former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick’s debut book “The Art of Winning: Lessons from My Life in Football” will be available for purchase.
In the interim, some members of the media have been given an advanced copy, with The Boston Globe’s Ben Volin being one of them.
On Wednesday, he shared a generally positive review of the book, only taking exception with one section in particular:
“Where the book falls short is chapter 10, ‘Mistakes.’ Belichick does admit to a few — not drafting Lamar Jackson in 2018; leaving defensive tackle Dan Klecko off the gameday roster in Super Bowl 38 vs. the Panthers; cutting a player who was swimming with his family in the pool at a team party on Cape Cod; and all of the players he wanted to keep but couldn’t for financial reasons, Brady chief among them.
“However, there is nothing on Butler’s infamous benching, or how Belichick’s defense got shredded in that crushing defeat to the Eagles. Butler’s name appears just once, listed among 147 former players in the acknowledgements (which also includes Jerod Mayo).”
Hindsight is obviously 20/20, but the inference being made from Volin’s words here is that Belichick was serious about drafting the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback from Louisville who would go on to be a two-time NFL MVP. We’ll have to wait and see once the book is released how deeply Belichick dives into this topic during chapter 10, but that it’s even mentioned creates an amazing hypothetical sliding doors moment for the franchise.
For those that need a refresher:
- In October of 2017, the Patriots traded back-up quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to the 49ers in exchange for a 2018 second-round draft pick. With reported tension between Belichick, Tom Brady and ownership surrounding Garoppolo’s place on the roster as the eventual heir apparent at QB, this move felt from the outside-looking-in like a power struggle coming to end. Brady would go on to win the league MVP that season.
- In February of 2018, the Patriots lost 41-33 in Super Bowl LII to the Eagles. This is a game where Brady threw for 505 yards, the Patriots never punted, yet somehow lost the football game to a team quarterbacked by career back-up Nick Foles. One of the Patriots best corners, Malcolm Butler, was mysteriously benched for the game, with New England’s defense allowing Philadelphia to match them punch-for-punch as Butler cried in confusion on the sidelines.
- In April of 2018, with the Patriots selecting at No. 23 and 31 in the first round of the NFL Draft, Belichick selected two players from Georgia to add to his AFC Championship-winning roster - offensive lineman Isaiah Wynn and running back Sony Michel, in that order. Wynn missed all of 2018 with an injury, and would proceed to only start 40 games in four seasons from 2019 to 2022 before leaving New England as a free agent in 2018. While Michel’s stay in New England was more impactful, he was traded to the Rams ahead of the 2021 season.
- One spot after the Michel selection in 2018 is where Jackson landed, with Baltimore picking their QB of the future with incumbent Joe Flacco on the decline. With New England having traded their next-in-line QB six months prior, there was a faction of fans and media who were loud about passing on the dual-threat sensation twice in the first round, with an AFC rival inevitably landing him. But with Brady still on board and a roster ready-made to compete for another Super Bowl, the loud chatter quickly shifted to whispers as the team began its successful pursuit of ring No. 6.
- Less than two years later, in March of 2020, Brady opted to leave the Patriots in free agency for a two-year contract with the Buccaneers worth $50 million. New England had no Garoppolo to fill the void as he was playing on a big-money contract in San Francisco, and had no Jackson either as he was coming off his first MVP season in 2019 with Baltimore. Instead, the Patriots signed a bargain bin version of Cam Newton in July, who led them to a 7-9 season in 2020 - Belichick’s first losing season in New England since 2000.
- Newton’s struggles led to the drafting of Mac Jones in 2021, and… I think we all know the story from here.
The franchise is 33-51 since Brady left for Tampa.
It’s a fool’s errand to think about what that record would be if a third-year, Brady-incubated Jackson was taking over the reins of the organization at the start of the 2020 season instead, but this tidbit from Belichick’s book has opened that door for Patriots fans.
Another tidbit coming from a Globe writer who received an advanced copy - Belichick made not one mention of the Kraft family in his entire book.
Here’s what Dan Shaughnessy wrote on Friday:
“Imagine. Two hundred and eighty-nine pages of Bill telling us about the secret sauce of 24 seasons at the helm in Foxborough. I couldn’t wait to read what he really thinks of Bob Kraft and how he’d explain Malcolm Butler not playing in the February 2018 Super Bowl against the Eagles in Minneapolis.
“Sorry, it’s not in there.
“As an author of many books, I’d estimate this one’s about 80,000 words.
“Two words not in the book: Robert Kraft.”
Shaughnessy went on to say that that the only reference from the book that he thought could be tied to the Krafts was a mention of the “Patriot Way,” and how that was only a marketing tool used to make money rather than a true philosophy Belichick used to win an unprecedented amount of games in the modern era.
According to Shaughnessy, 363 people were mentioned in the “thank you” section of this book. Two people absent from that list were Robert and Jonathan Kraft.
If it wasn’t already obvious from Belichick’s demeanor on stage with Kraft at Brady’s Netflix roast last year, this snub makes the disdain clear as day.
And after the way Apple’s “The Dynasty” portrayed Belichick’s 24-year tenure in New England, can you blame him?
Watching how this relationship proceeds in the coming years, with Belichick becoming eligible for the Patriots Hall of Fame in 2028 if he doesn’t coach again in the NFL, will be fascinating.