Patriots Coach Explains Why His Family ‘Wasn’t Well-Liked” in Cleveland

Getty Stephen Belichick

The city of Cleveland is near and dear to many peoples’ hearts, but it doesn’t sound as if that’s the case in the Belichick household. New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was the head coach of the franchise from 1991 to 1995 and let’s just say things didn’t go well. Under Belichick, the Browns had just one winning season in 1994.

The team moved from Cleveland to Baltimore to become the Ravens for the 1996 season. Fans in Cleveland learned of the planned move during the 1995 campaign and turned on the team, and mostly those in leadership at the time. According to an interview ahead of the Patriots’ clash with the Browns in Week 10, Belichick’s son Steve, who is now New England’s defensive coordinator, the time period was a rough one.

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The city was prickly and management had seemingly pulled the rug from under Bill. Steve Belichick said: “It was rough on our family the last year. We had a good year in 1994 (11-5) and then a pretty downward spiral (after rumors of the Browns relocating began spreading in October. We had some brief plans to go to Baltimore near Annapolis, where my parents are from, which was exciting for them. It was exciting for me to be around my dad’s parents, my grandparents.”

According the Steve, Browns/Ravens management and ownership indicated Bill would be retained after the move to Baltimore. However, they shifted and decided to fire Bill and replaced him with Ted Marchibroda.

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Steve said: “It was a memory I’ll never forget. My mom picked me up on Valentine’s Day and broke the news. Feb. 14 was a bit of an awkward time to separate. That was tough. Tough for the family. That was an awkward time. We were stuck out in Cleveland. Our family wasn’t well-liked by the public there. That’s life.” The Browns organization is under different management and ownership now as the team was revived as an expansion club in 1999. The Patriots don’t play the Browns yearly, but yoy have to wonder if there is still some bad blood between the Belichicks and Cleveland. We’ve seen Bill hold a grudge before, if you’re unaware, ask the New York Jets how good is Belichick’s memory.


Previewing Week 10: Patriots vs. Browns

The Browns may be without both Nick Chubb (COVID-19) and Kareem Hunt (calf). QB Baker Mayfield will play, but he’s still dealing with injuries suffered earlier in the season.

The Patriots have some running back depth issues as well with Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson both trying to recover from head injuries suffered in the Week 9 win over the Carolina Panthers. For the Patriots, the gameplan isn’t much different than it is most weeks. They must establish the run game to take pressure off Mac Jones and a still limited vertical passing game.

Also, Jones and the offense have to protect the football. The Patriots are 2-4 in games with 2 or more turnovers this season. They cannot turn it over and defeat the Browns.


Patriots Schedule and Results – 2021

New England is on a roll and the have a winnable game ahead of them in Week 10 vs. the Cleveland Browns. If the Patriots can pull out the victory, they will have run their record to 6-4 and they will also be on a four-game win streak.

Victories are always important, but winning in Week 10 is especially crucial considering the team the Patriots are chasing in the AFC East standings, the Buffalo Bills are just a half-game ahead of them. The Bills play the New York Jets in a game most would expect Buffalo to win, so the Patriots may need to win to keep pace.

Here is a look at the rest of the Patriots’ 2021 schedule along with the results from earlier in the year.

New England Patriots (5-4) 2021 Regular Season Schedule

  • Week 1 – vs. Miami Dolphins 17, New England Patriots 16  
  • Week 2 – New England Patriots 25, at New York Jets 6
  • Week 3 – New Orleans Saints 28, New England Patriots 13
  • Week 4 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers 19, New England Patriots 17
  • Week 5 – New England Patriots 25, at Houston Texans 22
  • Week 6 – Dallas Cowboys 35, New England Patriots 29 – OT
  • Week 7 – New England Patriots 54, New York Jets 13
  • Week 8 – New England Patriots 27, Los Angeles Chargers 24
  • Week 9 – New England Patriots 24, at Carolina Panthers 6 
  • Week 10 – Cleveland Browns at 1 pm ET – CBS – November 14
  • Week 11 – at Atlanta Falcons at 8:20 pm ET – FOX/NFL Network/Amazon – November 18
  • Week 12 – Tennessee Titans at 1 pm ET – CBS – November 28
  • Week 13 – at Buffalo Bills at 8:15 pm ET – ESPN – December 6
  • Week 14 – Bye Week 
  • Week 15 – at Indianapolis Colts Time TBA – December 18
  • Week 16 – Jacksonville Jaguars at 1 pm ET – CBS – January 2
  • Week 17 – at Miami Dolphins at 1 pm ET – CBS – January 9

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