Ex-NFL writer torches Bill Belichick over disastrous TV interview
Just when you thought he was out, Bill Belichick and Jordon Hudson pulled him back in.
Retired NFL writer Peter King announced his retirement in 2024 after decades as a columnist for Sports Illustrated and Pro Football Talk as well as a reporter on "Football Night in America" on NBC. But Belichick's book tour, which dominated the national conversation over the last week, brought him back into the media spotlight.
King sounded off on Belichick's disastrous public relations campaign in a podcast interview.
"This is a guy who owned every room he ever walked into, and now he's got a 24-year-old muse telling him what to do or trying to control situations that, quite frankly, she has nothing to do with or should have nothing to do with," he said on "Sports Media with Richard Deitsch." "Bill's got to get a hold of himself here. He's got to get a hold of this situation. This is embarrassing. It's totally embarrassing for a guy who's as great at his job as he is."
King added that for Belichick to do an interview, like he did for CBS, he had to be a bit more interesting and the opposite of the kind of media personality he was when he coached the New England Patrots.
"Bill Belichick, to promote a book, goes on Sunday morning television for however long it was, say 10 minutes, but goes on Sunday morning television with a sweatshirt on with a hole in it. Look at the video of it," King continued. "He's got a Navy sweatshirt on that has a hole in it. . . . Why does TMZ have him walking out of the Ritz-Carlton hotel, I think, in New York in a perfectly tailored blue suit? Why? Where's he going? And why is he on a national TV show looking like he's going to a press conference in Foxboro on no sleep, and then he walks out of a hotel going wherever he's going. . . . That was a terrible look in the first place. . . .
"But in general, if you're going to be promoting a book or you're going to be doing interviews, you can't be the sullen, disinterested person that Bill Belichick was for CBS. You just shouldn't do it then. Why do it?"
King said that anyone who saw the CBS interview may not be so keen to buy the book he promoted in the first place.
Belichick broke his silence on the debacle Wednesday, defending his girlfriend and accusing CBS of creating a "false narrative" with "selectively edited" clips.
"Unfortunately, that expectation was not honored during the interview. I was surprised when unrelated topics were introduced, and I repeatedly expressed to the reporter, Tony Dokoupil, and the producers that I preferred to keep the conversation centered on the book," the coach said.
"After this occurred several times, Jordon, with whom I share both a personal and professional relationship, stepped in to reiterate that point to help focus the discussion. She was not deflecting any specific question or topic but simply doing her job to ensure the interview stayed on track. Some of the clips make it appear as though we were avoiding the question of how we met, but we have been open about the fact that Jordon and I met on a flight to Palm Beach in 2021.
"The final eight-minute segment does not reflect the productive 35-minute conversation we had, which covered a wide range of topics related to my career. Instead, it presents selectively edited clips and stills from just a few minutes of the interview to suggest a false narrative — that Jordon was attempting to control the conversation — which is simply not true."
CBS later responded with a statement of its own.
"When we agreed to speak with Mr. Belichick, it was for a wide-ranging interview," the company said. "There were no preconditions or limitations to this conversation. This was confirmed repeatedly with his publisher before the interview took place and after it was completed."
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