First, the New England Patriots traded out of the first round. Then, Bill Belichick put a decoy in his seat when the Patriots made their first second-round selection on Friday.
It’s almost as if the famously prickly and media-averse coach was going out of his way to avoid appearing on camera.
When the Patriots selected safety Kyle Dugger from Division II Lenoir-Rhyne at No. 37 overall, the ESPN and NFL Network telecast cut to Belichick’s draft-from-home kitchen table setup. Instead of a shot of Belichick sitting in front of a few laptops and notebooks, viewers were treated to the family dog sitting in the seat above a “Bill Belichick” chyron on screen.
And Twitter had jokes:
THE PATRIOTS DYNASTY IS OVER
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) April 24, 2020
BRADY IS GONE
GRONK IS GONE
BELICHICK HAS BEEN REPLACED WITH A DOG pic.twitter.com/WXZKFP695j
Tom Brady first became suspicious when he went in to talk about the game plan and Belichick insisted on a belly rub first. pic.twitter.com/T0WXFnu9aQ
— michael phillips (@michaelpRTD) April 24, 2020
Man, the quarantine has really taken a toll on Bill. pic.twitter.com/FgYPRTW8lw
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) April 24, 2020
Put this in the Smithsonian. pic.twitter.com/krplmziCHS
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) April 24, 2020
The move was clearly deliberate, as Belichick soon appeared on camera to give his dog a treat, perhaps a thank-you for helping with the prank.
Bill Belichick gave the very good dog a treat pic.twitter.com/yWH6YfSvGc
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) April 24, 2020
• Adam Zielonka can be reached at azielonka@washingtontimes.com.
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