Bill Belichick's downfall with Patriots had nothing to do with football

In a story that is sure to spur the country's worst people into action, it seems that Bill Belichick's support of former President Donald Trump is at least partially responsible for getting the legendary coach run out of New England.

Former Patriots cornerback Logan Ryan appeared recently on The Herd with Colin Cowherd to shed some light on how the Patriots dynasty finally lost its way, and what he said was eye-opening. It wasn't X's and O's or suddenly losing his understanding of the game that did Belichick in. Instead, the man who famously coined the phrase, "Do your job" ironically lost the locker room by letting politics take the team's sole focus away from football.

Bill Belichick's political stance came back to bite him with Patriots

All around the country, families have fought and friendships have been lost due to the divisiveness of a man who just two days ago celebrated Memorial Day by tweeting not in remembrance of American soldiers who sacrificed their lives, but about "Human Scum that is working so hard to destroy our Once Great Country."

Most of us have an uncle, a friend, or a co-worker that has been lost down the MAGA rabbit hole, but it's eye-opening to know that even one of the most brilliant football minds of all-time was not immune to the morally and grammatically horrifying charms of a man who is responsible for the Capitol attack of January 6, 2021 and is currently under indictment for 91 felonies. Who among us, right?

Belichick was famously brought into Trump's toxic orbit back in 2016, when the then-candidate for President read a letter of support from the Patriots coach at one of his campaign rallies. Belichick, for what it's worth, has taken steps to try and distance himself from Trump, saying in the wake of that letter that "I'm not a political person," though he acknowledged that he and Trump had a friendship that "goes back many years." Belichick also turned down the Presidential Medal of Freedom shortly after the events of January 6, citing "the tragic events of last week" as his reason for declining the nation's highest civilian honor.

Logan's comments cast doubt over Belichick's statement that he's not a political person, but what's worse is the hypocrisy of telling players not to express their political views, then freely doing so yourself. For two decades, Belichick preached team above self, but eventually even he couldn't follow his own rules.

In the interest of being fair and balanced (a term that had meaning when one of the two major political parties in our country was more than just a money laundering operation for what essentially amounts to organized crime), it has to be pointed out that letting Tom Brady leave and filling the offensive coordinator position with Matt Patricia, an unqualified defensive coach, also played key roles in bringing about the downfall of Belichick and the Patriots dynasty.

Now Belichick is a coaching free agent, and after striking out in his quest to become the Atlanta Falcons' next head coach (with a possible assist from Patriots owner Robert Kraft), he's pivoted to a media career that will see him make regular appearances this upcoming season on The Pat McAfee Show and Monday Night Football's Manningcast, both on ESPN. He also made an appearance on Netflix's The Roast of Tom Brady earlier this month, to generally positive reviews.