Ex-Patriots LB Ted Johnson SLAMS HC Bill Belichick for ‘discrediting’ New England’s 2001 Super Bowl winning team

Bill Belichick and the Patriots broke their 20-year long drought after winning the Super Bowl in 2001 as clear underdogs.

Ex-Patriots LB Ted Johnson SLAMS HC Bill Belichick for ‘discrediting’ New England’s 2001 Super Bowl winning team

Bill Belichick & Ted Johnson (Image via The Comeback & ESPN)

Ted Johnson was part of the New England Patriots under the leadership of Bill Belichick’s team that started it all. The Patriots won their first-ever Super Bowl in 2001 when Tom Brady was the 3rd choice QB who surpassed all expectations.

Johnson was at the inception of the Patriots dynasty, which ruled for decades after that. However, HC Bill Belichick clearly doesn’t think highly of the 2001 Super Bowl-winning team. Instead, he has his favorites on the 2003–04 team.

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The former Patriots LB took offense to this statement and gave his assessment of his recent appearance on the ’33rd team podcast’. There, the host and Johnson were speaking about the Patriots dynasty and Belichick’s comments regarding them.

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Johnson clearly slammed the veteran HC and believes that the 2001 team showed true spirit and won the Super Bowl despite being massive underdogs. Instead of criticizing the team, Belichick should be proud of them. 

“It amazes me that he would devalue or discredit the 2001 Super Bowl team,” Ted Johnson said on the Zolak & Bertrand midday program. “I know we were 14-point underdogs, but it’s weird. I would think he would be more proud of that Super Bowl than any of them. I take issue with these comments.”

Although Ted Johnson can sympathize a lot with the 2001 team, Bill Belichick has his favorites reserved for the record-breaking 2003–04 team that showed class and dominance. 

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Bill Belichick believes the Patriots were fortunate to win the 2001 Super Bowl

Bill Belichick
Bill Belichick (Image via The Spun)

Before, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady’s arrival in New England, the Patriots were considered an average team who hadn’t won a championship in 20 years.

However, it all changed when Belichick took over and displayed his masterclass. Interestingly, the Patriots HC believes that they were fortunate to win against the dominant Rams in 2001.

“Again, we were fortunate to win in 2001, but I would say by ’03 and ’04, we had one of the better teams in the league,“ Bill Belichick stated. “The team was nowhere near the team that we left in ’96. It had declined quite a bit. There were still a few pillars here that we could build with. And by 2003—even though we won in 2001—we knew this was a pretty good football team in all three phases of the game.”

Belichick’s favorite NFL Super Bowl-winning team was in a different league altogether. They went on a massive 21-game winning streak and dominated every single team in the league.

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