The Belichick-Kraft Patriots relationship ended

As Coach Bill Belichick turned the corner into the AFC coaches media breakfast at the NFL owners meetings, an annual event he despises, a New England Patriots staff member gave him a square blue pin.

Belichick pinned it to his pink and gray checkered dress shirt, but in an unexpected location: more than halfway down the left side, near his ribcage.

The NFL’s longest-tenured head coach then sat at a round table with eight to ten media members and a television camera waiting for him, reluctantly answering questions about his team and the prognosis for the 2023 season. Deep into the conversation, he was asked about the pin.

“It’s Mr. Kraft’s initiative,” Belichick answered, referring to Patriots owner Robert Kraft.

What are your opinions on the initiative?

“I support it,” Belichick replied.

That late-March morning encounter at the luxurious Arizona Biltmore may have been a subtle indication of a widening schism between Kraft and Belichick, who are in their 24th year together as owners and coaches.

Perhaps that was simply Belichick being Belichick. He has previously avoided the coaches breakfast, finding little value in March interviews that create excitement, and is not willing to participate in NFL-driven media programs.

His objectives, like many other aspects of Belichick’s life, remain unknown.

A few hours after his breakfast with Belichick, Kraft stood triumphantly outside in the Arizona heat, surrounded by reporters, with the cactus and blazing Southwest sunshine providing a magnificent backdrop. He wore the identical blue pin on the left side of his light blue dress shirt, plainly visible between the second and third buttons, not far from the “RKK” initials embroidered somewhat below.

Before taking questions, Kraft talked passionately about the purpose of the pin, declaring that today was the day he would launch a crusade to eradicate antisemitism. Kraft, who contributed more than $100 million to the effort, stated that “fighting this hate will be the most meaningful and fulfilling action of my life.”

He was leading with his heart, which is also what he claims inspired him to employ Belichick in 2000 — a choice that wasn’t widely seen as wise until the Lombardi Trophy arrived in Foxborough in Belichick’s second season.

Kraft once compared the relationship between himself, Belichick, and quarterback Tom Brady to “a marriage because you put up and go through a number of things that the general public probably can’t appreciate.”

He was really proud that he had kept the three together for twenty years. Brady was upset about his exit as a free agent in 2020. And now comes another ending, this one including Belichick.

During the championship years, it was rarely examined how Belichick’s unconventional acts, like as his use of the blue square pin, mirrored his relationship with Kraft. However, as the defeats piled up in recent years, every interaction, team decision, and press release was analyzed through this lens.

After guiding the Patriots to six Super Bowl victories, Belichick’s squad ended 4-13 this season. This was the third losing season in four years.

One club source who watched exchanges between Belichick and Kraft stated, “I don’t know what happened to that relationship, but it doesn’t seem to be in as good a place as it used to be.”

On Thursday, the Patriots revealed that Kraft and Belichick have agreed to split ways. At the news conference, they hugged and thanked each other, putting a good face on their final chapter together.