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Terrific read of an interview with Wickersham about his book and excerpts from it. Even doubters will like this stuff - pro-BB, pro-TFB, pro-dynasty, pro-Pats.
You detail Belichick’s use of psychological warfare in his coaching. Which of his foes do you think was most impacted?
I have to say probably [Former Rams coach] Mike Martz because it happened on the game’s biggest stage [at Super Bowl XXXVI] and Bill, for as much as an introvert as he is, how comfortable in awkward silence he is, he is a master at understanding the psychological impulses of his opponent and figuring out ways to get them to revert to their most essential selves. He knew that going into the Super Bowl against the Patriots that Martz was going to throw the ball and would not call running plays, and he used it against him. It wasn’t the first time he had ever done it, but I think it was the most impressive time because the Patriots shouldn’t have won that game. They were playing on artificial turf against one of the fastest teams ever, an all-time great offense, and they figured out a way to win because Bill developed a gameplan that the Rams had no answer for. To change they would have had to change who they were in the middle of the game, and they didn’t figure out a way to do it until the end of the game when it was too late.
As you referenced earlier, the Brady-Belichick parting of ways was in the works for some time. The team wouldn’t commit beyond two years and Brady wasn’t given the roster input he craved. Why not give Brady some input? Didn’t he earn that?
Alex Guerrero came out and said that Bill didn’t evolve with Brady. I don’t think that’s quite fair because Belichick did evolve. Everyone knew that Tom Brady wasn’t just one of the guys. But I think there was a feeling to just how much influence Tom Brady could have across the organization. At one point, he tells Joe Montana: “They ask my input; I give it to them and they go do their own thing.”
What surprised you the most about the team or key players when writing the book?
I think one of the most interesting things that should not get overlooked is how hard that 10-year gap was when they weren’t winning Super Bowls but they were coming very close. They were so close to winning more Super Bowls but just coming up short and the fact that Brady and Belichick went back to reevaluate their belief systems and challenge these patterns that had maybe worked better than for any quarterback and coach ever but they were still looking to improve on that last 10th of 1%.
I think you see it happen later in the book in the Baltimore Ravens playoff game in 2015 where they’re down in the third quarter by two touchdowns. The Ravens aren’t scared of them. They’re looking like this is another wasted year where they were going home early, but Belichick had prepared for this moment and knew they might need something unpredictable. And he unveiled those two funky formations – the ‘Baltimore’ formation and the ‘Ravens’ one and in a matter of minutes got them back in the game, I think it was those decisions that went a long way toward reigniting the dynasty.
When this dynasty is reflected on in say, 50 years, what’s the lead narrative aside from the mountain of Super Bowls?
The longevity. I don’t write around the Super Bowls. The Super Bowls are an offshoot of two incredibly driven people and two extremists in this spectacularly unhealthy world of professional football. The fact is these guys could have exited at any time with their health and their wealth and their legacy intact and yet they ignored all those off-ramps and they keep going. Even to this day they keep going and every time they give you an indication of when they might walk away, they move the goalposts.
Inside the Patriots’ winning machine: ‘The Super Bowls are an offshoot of two extremists’
In his new book, Seth Wickersham explores how Tom Brady and Bill Belichick built one of the most successful teams in history
www.theguardian.com
You detail Belichick’s use of psychological warfare in his coaching. Which of his foes do you think was most impacted?
I have to say probably [Former Rams coach] Mike Martz because it happened on the game’s biggest stage [at Super Bowl XXXVI] and Bill, for as much as an introvert as he is, how comfortable in awkward silence he is, he is a master at understanding the psychological impulses of his opponent and figuring out ways to get them to revert to their most essential selves. He knew that going into the Super Bowl against the Patriots that Martz was going to throw the ball and would not call running plays, and he used it against him. It wasn’t the first time he had ever done it, but I think it was the most impressive time because the Patriots shouldn’t have won that game. They were playing on artificial turf against one of the fastest teams ever, an all-time great offense, and they figured out a way to win because Bill developed a gameplan that the Rams had no answer for. To change they would have had to change who they were in the middle of the game, and they didn’t figure out a way to do it until the end of the game when it was too late.
As you referenced earlier, the Brady-Belichick parting of ways was in the works for some time. The team wouldn’t commit beyond two years and Brady wasn’t given the roster input he craved. Why not give Brady some input? Didn’t he earn that?
Alex Guerrero came out and said that Bill didn’t evolve with Brady. I don’t think that’s quite fair because Belichick did evolve. Everyone knew that Tom Brady wasn’t just one of the guys. But I think there was a feeling to just how much influence Tom Brady could have across the organization. At one point, he tells Joe Montana: “They ask my input; I give it to them and they go do their own thing.”
What surprised you the most about the team or key players when writing the book?
I think one of the most interesting things that should not get overlooked is how hard that 10-year gap was when they weren’t winning Super Bowls but they were coming very close. They were so close to winning more Super Bowls but just coming up short and the fact that Brady and Belichick went back to reevaluate their belief systems and challenge these patterns that had maybe worked better than for any quarterback and coach ever but they were still looking to improve on that last 10th of 1%.
I think you see it happen later in the book in the Baltimore Ravens playoff game in 2015 where they’re down in the third quarter by two touchdowns. The Ravens aren’t scared of them. They’re looking like this is another wasted year where they were going home early, but Belichick had prepared for this moment and knew they might need something unpredictable. And he unveiled those two funky formations – the ‘Baltimore’ formation and the ‘Ravens’ one and in a matter of minutes got them back in the game, I think it was those decisions that went a long way toward reigniting the dynasty.
When this dynasty is reflected on in say, 50 years, what’s the lead narrative aside from the mountain of Super Bowls?
The longevity. I don’t write around the Super Bowls. The Super Bowls are an offshoot of two incredibly driven people and two extremists in this spectacularly unhealthy world of professional football. The fact is these guys could have exited at any time with their health and their wealth and their legacy intact and yet they ignored all those off-ramps and they keep going. Even to this day they keep going and every time they give you an indication of when they might walk away, they move the goalposts.