Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots announced their parting of ways Thursday, holding a brief news conference to officially announce the seismic news. But to start the somber affair, the usually-dry coach uncharacteristically started the presser with a joke about one of his former players.
“Hi, morning,” Belichick said to the reporters in attendance. “Haven’t seen this many cameras since we signed Tebow.”
The legendary coach is referring to former quarterback Tim Tebow, and he earned a couple of laughs in the process. New England signed the former New York Jets and Denver Broncos signal-caller in June 2013 but released him just two months later prior to the start of the regular season.
“Haven’t seen this many cameras since we signed Tebow.”
— Chad Graff (@ChadGraff) January 11, 2024
Bill Belichick opens his goodbye Patriots statement with a joke. pic.twitter.com/kqdZdtbVkE
During the press conference, Belichick quickly thanked members of the Patriots organization and said his goodbyes to a place he’s called home for the past 24 seasons, but he didn’t take questions from the media members in attendance.
Belichick leaves New England having won six Super Bowls as head coach. He currently ranks third in NFL history with 302 career regular-season wins.