New England Patriots

Bill Belichick's unfiltered 1,000-word quote is a once-in-a-lifetime event

Published Nov. 15, 2016 2:15 p.m. ET

Andrew Lynch

Bill Belichick is famous for his incredibly short answers when reporters ask questions he doesn't like. Ask him how he got a black eye, and the Patriots coach will offer a one-word response. And heaven help you if you want to ask Belichick about the health of one of his players, even in the offseason.

Every once in a while, though, a reporter cracks the code, getting the Hoodied One to crack a joke or open up at length. This week, Tom Curran of CSNNE.com hit the jackpot on a conference call when he asked about managing the clock. Buckle up, friends, because you're about to have nearly 1,000 words of unfiltered Belichick.

Via USA Today:

Here, Belichick says something interesting about how he decides to go for it on fourth down:

Finally, Belichick brings it full-circle, going from talking in general terms to analyzing what happened in New England's season-opening win over Arizona:

Whew. That's certainly a mouthful; if you didn't read all 971 words (as tallied by USA Today), I can't say I blame you. If only there were some way to get a general sense of what Belichick said without having to read that wall of text.

Oh, I know: how about a word cloud (courtesy of wordclouds.com)?

"Situation(s)," "just," "good," "think," "game." When you break it down like that, football is so simple. So for any coach struggling with managing the clock, we have a solution. Print this word cloud out, keep it in your back pocket, and you will be able to channel your inner Belichick in the clutch.