How Much Does Patriots Bill Belichick Care About Your Fantasy Football Team?

New England's 70-year-old coach may have mellowed, but not that much.

Now and then we provide trends, rankings and projections about the New England Patriots. Some of the information and data is even geared specifically toward the multi-billion dollar industry of Fantasy Football.

Why? Because we know you have a team. Maybe multiple teams. So does your neighbor. Your brother. Your boss. Almost everyone in your circle.

If you're a Patriots homer, you might be considering quarterback Mac Jones and his projected 23 touchdown passes as a mid-round steal in your upcoming Fantasy Football Draft. Perhaps Hunter Henry at tight end makes sense. Or even a flier on rookie receiver Tyquan Thornton or part of the running-back-by-committee featuring Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson.

New England coach Bill Belichick has long been known as a no-nonsense curmudgeon who focuses on the next snap or opponent but little else outside his Hall-of-Fame blinders.

But with six Super Bowls in his pocket and recently having turned 70, has he softened enough to notice and/or care about something other than football: Like, perhaps, Fantasy Football?

A young reporter at training camp Thursday posed the question and received a playful earful of Belichickian.

"Fantasy football doesn’t mean anything to me."

Bill Belichick 😂 pic.twitter.com/5KoKcOMBwI

— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) August 4, 2022

“Honestly, I don’t really have any opinion on that because fantasy football doesn’t mean anything to me,” Belichick said. “We’re just trying to win games out here. I don’t know who’s hot, who’s not, who wins, who doesn’t. I don’t really care about that. I just care about whether we win."

Grumbly and mumbly, Belichick is also self-aware. So not surprising he punctuated his brusk dismissal of the question with some levity in the form of a wry grin.

“Yeah," he said, "have fun with that.”

Bottom line: We're pretty sure Belichick knows Fantasy Football exists. But - like the rest of the world - he doesn't give a Samuel Adams about your team's weekly lineup conundrums.