Gotta think the coach wasn’t expecting things to go like this…
Bill Belichick has generally shied away from media attention during his legendary coaching career. The 73-year old coach of the University of North Carolina has never really hid the fact that he doesn’t like being in the spotlight, and at times his relationship with the press was downright hostile during his tenure as coach of the New England Patriots.
But now, it seems that Belichick can’t seem to escape the headlines – although most of them aren’t about his football team.
There’s been a ton of attention on his relationship with 24-year old former cheerleader Jordon Hudson, who if you’re bad at math, is 48-years younger than her boyfriend. And while the spotlight on their relationship isn’t necessarily anything new, it’s come under increased scrutiny in the wake of Belichick’s disastrous interview on CBS Sunday Morning this past weekend.
Hudson was, for some reason, also involved to the interview, sitting just off to the side as Belichick spoke with Tony Dokoupil. And during one particularly awkward moment, Hudson quickly spoke up when the interviewer asked the coach how he had met his new girlfriend:
“We’re not talking about this.”
It was an incredibly awkward moment that seemed to catch the interviewer off guard, and when Dokoupil asked about the photos of their relationship that Hudson shared on social media, Belichick didn’t seem interested in discussing that either:
“I’m on some of those social media platforms, but I honestly don’t follow them.”
But as more and more information has come out about what went on behind the scenes, it appears that wasn’t the only time Hudson injected herself into the interview. According to a report from TMZ, at one point she stormed off the set and delayed shooting by 30 minutes, forcing higher-ups at CBS to get involved. And she had apparently interrupted from off camera several times in addition to the one that was shown, forcing producers to try to figure out how to salvage the final product and edit the interview in a way that could be aired on television.
The whole mess has raised a lot of questions on social media, especially after the two have previously said that they met on an airplane and that he signed her college textbook after striking up a conversation. Why not just tell that story if it’s the truth? And if it’s not, how did they REALLY meet?
Neither of the two have addressed the awkward interview yet, but it appears that Hudson (of course) will be the first one to speak about it publicly. In a post on her Instagram this morning, the former cheerleader shared an email which was reportedly from Belichick criticizing media coverage of his upcoming book The Art Of Winning: Lessons From My Life In Football.
Now, I say “reportedly” from Belichick because not only does it not sound like it was written by the coach, but we know that Hudson handles a lot of media for him. Emails released earlier this year show that Belichick has asked UNC staffers to copy Hudson on their messages to him, and she’s also expressed concerns about how the university was moderating comments on their relationship on social media.
So yeah, I’m not entirely convinced that the email was even written by Belichick, but it seems that Hudson released it to show that Belichick had concerns about how the media would cover his book even before the disastrous CBS interview. And the post was accompanied by a second slide along with Taylor Swift’s song “Look What You Made Me Do,” with Hudson promising in the caption that a full statement would be released later today.
I’m obviously interested in what she has to say in her statement, but man, this whole thing just looks worse and worse for Belichick. And it’s reportedly also leading to concerns from UNC about Hudson’s involvement in the football program.
If things are this bad months before the football season even kicks off, you’ve gotta think the Tar Heels are probably getting nervous about how this season’s going to go.
