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At the height of the New England Patriots dynasty, Bill Belichick had a famous document of rules. Super Bowl LI MVP Julian Edelman remembers Belichick’s most “memorable” rule.
“The most memorable rule I always remember him saying is nothing can, nothing flammable can be in your hotel rooms,” Edelman told Pakinomist Digital in August while promoting the sleeping pill Unisom.
“‘I don’t care if it’s incense, it smells like sage, if it’s burning, you can’t have it.’
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Former New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman (11) warms up before a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium on December 15, 2019. (David Kohl/USA TODAY Sports)
And just as Belichick paid particular attention to what the players breathed in, he also paid particular attention to what they chewed.
“We tailor everything that we do to each one, so we’re training 185-pound players, we’re training 350-pound players,” Belichick told NFL.com in 2017.
For Edelman, that manifested itself in a high-tech but modest approach to food discipline.
PATRIOTS COACH MIKE VRABEL EXTREMELY REFUSES TO SACRIFICE HE WOULD TAKE HIS MALE ANATOMY TO WIN THE SUPER BOWL
New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick talks with Julian Edelman #11 during the first half against the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on January 24, 2016 in Denver, Colorado. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
“I would basically have a nutritionist who was part of the team, Ted Harper, and they would communicate with one of my chefs, and they would see how my practice was through my data about what our GPS devices about how much load I had that day, and they would tailor to my blood type,” Edelman said, adding that the science was so precise that he had to cut out the mustard and almond.
Belichick’s rigorously calculated approach to player management was a defining quality that earned New England six Super Bowl trophies and nine appearances under the coach’s leadership from 2000-2023. The Patriots won 266 regular season games, captured 17 AFC East titles and 31 postseason victories during his reign.
Despite all of this, Belichick reportedly missed out on being a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
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New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick smiles as he walks off the field during an NFL football training camp in Foxborough, Mass., Wednesday, June 5, 2019. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
ESPN first reported that Belichick would not be entering the Hall of Fame this time. The outlet reported, citing sources, that Belichick was “puzzled” and “disappointed” by the decision and that he wondered what more he had to do as a head coach to come in right away.
“Politics kept him out. He doesn’t believe this is a reflection of his performance,” another source told ESPN.
The Patriots are headed back to the Super Bowl for the first time since Belichick left the team after the 2023 season under his protégé Mike Vrabel.
They will take on the Seahawks in a rematch of Super Bowl XLIX, when Edelman helped secure New England’s first of three Super Bowl victories in the decade of the 2010s.
