Getty Bill Belichick and Linda Holliday
Linda Holliday, the girlfriend of New England Patriots head coach and de facto general manager Bill Belichick, has had it with “trolls.”
Holliday lashed out at folks on social media this week amidst mounds of criticism. Anti-Belichick and pro-Tom-Brady talk flooded the internet after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers punched their ticket to the NFC Championship game with a 30-20 win. Holliday came to her boyfriend’s defense and ultimately took her Instagram account private as her rant became one of the biggest sports stories of the week.
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Holliday Responds to a Commenter
Holliday was minding her own business, posting one of those reflective, end-of-the-year posts that people drop around the New Year, when a troll named Kathy Pellet decided to take a swipe at Belichick in the comment section. Pellet egregiously wrote, “Too bad Bill let Tom go.”
The unprovoked and misplaced jab didn’t sit well with Holliday, and she let Pellet have it. Holliday’s short rant included comments suggesting the Buccaneers’ defense carried Brapast the New Orleans Saints.
Here’s a screenshot of the exchange that was captured by independent NFL reporter Dov Kleinman:
After Holliday was prompted to “keep it classy” by another troll, she felt the need to respond and clarify more with this followup reply:
@TomBrady Update: Linda Holliday had a follow up about her previous comment on Tom Brady.
Former NFL kicker and popular personality Pat McAfee broke down the entire incident the following day on his show:
Bill Belichick’s girlfriend had some interesting comments on IG about Tom Brady #PatMcAfeeShowLIVE
Internet trolls can get to the best of us. Catching someone at the wrong time with the wrong comment can often lead to an uncharacteristic outburst. Usually, the more sane and level-headed person is usually a little regretful shortly after pressing send, which leads to deleted posts and going private shortly after the incident.
Holliday Goes Private
On queue, Holliday took her account private with a statement to her friends and family.
As you can see, Holliday says she is “tired of trolls,” and dealing with the sort of open criticism online that most of us have simply accepted as a part of dealing with the public on social media.
Many people you encounter on social media aren’t interested in being nice or fair. They thrive in their own negativity and seek to bring you down with them. Apparently, this is a lesson Holliday learned or re-learned during this experience.
You have to wonder how Belichick feels about all this commotion. This is not his style, and Holliday’s outburst is the last thing you’d expect to come from Belichick or anyone close to the future Hall-of-Famer.
A Glimpse into Belichick’s Inner Circle
One thing seems certain: there is a good amount of interest in Brady’s playoff run at the Belichick household. Whether they’re rooting for or against Brady, it would appear they’re invested.
Quite honestly, it is hard to believe Belichick would want to see Brady win it all when he knows that would only intensify the thought that the QB has won the breakup between the two legends.
No matter what the case may be, don’t expect a social media rant coming from Belichick anytime soon, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s asked Holliday to stop taking troll bait moving forward.