There’s more than meets the eye with New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick. The sleeveless hoodie, sideline frowns and no-nonsense approach in most dealings with the media give off the impression that Belichick has no sense of humor.
Well, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson can confirm that isn’t the least bit true.
Jackson admitted he had the same assumptions as everyone else before meeting Belichick at a pre-draft meeting in 2018. But his expectations were completely blown out of the water in his first face-to-face interaction with the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach.
“I seen Belichick smile,” Jackson told reporters on Wednesday. “Usually, I see him and he’s [like straight-faced guy]. When I saw him smile, I was like ‘Dang, you’ve got humor.’ I told him that. He was like, ‘Yeah.’ I’m like, ‘I wasn’t expecting you to be smiling.'”
"I wasn't expecting you to be smiling!" @Lj_era8 on his pre-draft meeting with Bill Belichick 😂 pic.twitter.com/S3TQyZOxKi
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) September 21, 2022
The Patriots went into that draft with two first-round picks and came away with Georgia standouts, left tackle Isaiah Wynn and running back Sony Michel.
Jackson would have made an interesting draft selection in a Patriots uniform. But the team still had Tom Brady at the time, and they waited until the seventh round to draft Danny Etling instead.
You better believe the Ravens don’t want to see Belichick smiling on Sunday, when they head into Foxborough to face the Patriots.
