Adam Vinatieri took a shot at Bill Belichick after his former New England Patriots head coach skipped the famed kicker’s induction into the NFL’s Hall of Fame.
“Thank you for demanding excellence every single day,” Vinatieri, 53, said in his near-20 minute speech in Canton, Ohio, on Saturday, August 8. “Your preparation, discipline and attention to detail shaped far more than my football career. Unfortunately Bill couldn’t make it here today – ha, there’s a lot going on at UNC right now. He may be on a recruiting trip right now looking for the next Lawrence Taylor. I thought it was because training camp had already started. But in truth, it’s because he’s judging his girlfriend’s cheerleading competition.”
He added, “All jokes aside, all jokes aside, in my opinion Bill is the greatest coach of all-time.”
Vinatieri — who joined the NFL in 1996 and played for a remarkable 24 years before retiring after the 2019 season — was referring, of course, to Belichick’s 48-year age-gap romance with Jordon Hudson, a former Bridgewater State University national champion cheerleader and member of the competitive adult cheerleading squad Cheer Extreme Code Black.
Belichick, 74, met on an airplane when Hudson, now 25, was a college student, going on to spark relationship rumors after they made various public appearances together. Hudson confirmed their romance one year later, sharing photos of the couple on Instagram.
In his light-hearted jabs at his former coach, the former Patriots and Indianapolis Colts kicker also referenced the turmoil at the University of North Carolina, where Belichick is preparing to kick off his second season as head coach amid some staff shakeups.
In July, general manager Michael Lombardi was placed on paid administrative leave amid an ongoing investigation related to a human resources complaint, according to The Athletic. (His attorney, Tom Mars, said in a statement to The Athletic at the time that Lombardi, 67, “welcomes the opportunity to clear his name.”)
Shortly after, Belichick’s son, Steve Belichick, was placed on indefinite medical leave after an arrest warrant was issued for his wife, Jen, who failed to appear before a North Carolina judge for a hearing related to a traffic stop. (The arrest warrant was recalled shortly after being issued. Jen’s attorney, Alex Kintner, filed a motion to recall the warrant, saying she was absent from court because his services had been “just retained,” according to court documents viewed by Us. She is now scheduled to appear for a deposition hearing on September 25.)
Vinatieri, who won four total Super Bowls during his time as a pro football player and remains the NFL’s all-time leading scorer with 2,673 points, also took aim at his former Patriots quarterback, Tom Brady.
“I played with the greatest quarterback in Patriots history,” he said. “Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to make it here today: Drew Bledsoe. … I have a few more Tom Brady jokes, but I was afraid he’d run up on stage and maybe give me a ‘Will Smith’ like he did to Logan Paul last month.”
He added, “Tom, you changed the game forever, but what I’ll remember most is the teammate you were. Your belief in the people around you inspired us all to raise the standards, and I’m honored our careers became part of the same path.”
The former NFL quarterback, 48, slapped the WWE star, 31, across the face during a live appearance at the New York City event on July 17, seen in a video shared by the official Fanatics X account.
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