'Relax!' Popular Comedian Supporting New England Patriots Bill Belichick
One of the most prominent celebrity New England Patriots fans isn't ready to give up on Bill Belichick.
For the first time in two decades, there's legitimate debate over who's going to wear the Patriots' top headset: Belichick, working through his 24th season at the Foxborough helm, has had his seemingly eternal job security called into question as the Patriots (2-7) are on pace for one of their worst seasons in recent memory, if not franchise history.
Stand-up comedian, actor, and Boston sports superfan Bill Burr, however, is firmly in his fellow namesake's corner. As an actor, Burr is perhaps best known for his recurring role as Patrick Kuby, a fixer for crooked lawyer Saul Goodman on "Breaking Bad." He was more than happy to play Belichick's attorney in a conversation with Sitz Grimey of WEEI.
"Why don't you guys relax?" Burr asks before Grimey can finish his question.
Burr, seen in the Disney+ "Star Wars" series "The Mandalorian"
IMDb/Lucasfilm
When informed that "a lot of people are calling for (Belichick's) job," Burr calls Grimey out for "cowardly journalism" and embarks on an impromptu hoodie history lesson, calling out the increasingly popular narrative that the Patriots' success in the new decade was brought about by retired quarterback Tom Brady.
"(Belichick) has eight (Super Bowl) rings. He has one more than Brady," Burr said, including Belichick's original championships won as the New York Giants' defensive coordinator. "He shut down John Elway (in Super Bowl XXI), the (Buffalo Bills') run-and-gun (in Super Bowl XXV), (the St. Louis Rams' Greatest Show on Turf), won three with the sixth-round draft pick. Everybody then was calling Brady a system's quarterback."
While going over Belichick's other rings, Burr called out viewers for attributing the Super Bowl XLIX win over Seattle solely to opposing head coach Pete Carroll's ill-fated decision not to run the ball in for a winning score in the game's dying stages, leading to a Malcolm Butler interception that kicked off a streak of three championships over the next five years.
"Everybody says that Pete Carroll screwed up rather than that was an unbelievable coaching job by Bill Belichick and his crew to have that defense ready for that play. That whole year, all it was was either an incomplete pass or a touchdown until they played us."
Burr doesn't appear to hold the same faith in franchise quarterback Mac Jones, as his only thoughts on the passer's fate is that "he's better looking than (Grimey)."
A Massachusetts native, Burr frequently works in his love of the Patriots in his comedy, including the "Monday Morning Podcast," which has run weekly since 2007. Despite a busy schedule, Burr will likely have some time to catch New England's latest outing: he's set to form at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan on Friday night, two days before the Patriots battle the Indianapolis Colts in Frankfurt on Sunday morning (9:30 a.m. ET, NFL Network).
