Bill Belichick Releases Statement Following NFL Legend Don Shula’s Death

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick had words of respect for Don Shula. Coach Belichick delivered a nice statement following Don Shula’s death. The Miami Dolphins legend is the all-time winningest coach. He died at 90. The Patriots shared Belichick’s statement.

“Don Shula is one of the all-time great coaching figures and the standard for consistency and leadership in the NFL,” Belichick wrote. “I was fortunate to grow up in Maryland as a fan of the Baltimore Colts who, under Coach Shula, were one of the outstanding teams of that era. My first connection to Coach Shula was through my father, whose friendship with Coach Shula went back to their days in northeast Ohio. I extend my deepest condolences to the Shula family and the Dolphins organization.”

A lot of unpleasant events took place before Don Shula’s death

Shula had words of praise for Belichick at the beginning of the Patriots dynasty. But the “Spygate” scandal made him change his mind. Shula and other members of the 1972 Dolphins condemned Belichick and the Patriots.
“The Spygate thing has diminished what they’ve accomplished,” Shula said at the time. “You would hate to have that attached to your accomplishments. They’ve got it.”

This was his last comment on the topic until 2015. Shula called Belichick “Beli-Cheat” a couple of weeks before the “Deflategate” game. Shula appeared with his comments right after the scandal.

“We always tried to live by the rules and set an example that it was always done with a lot of class, a lot of dignity,’’ he said. “Always done the right way. We didn’t deflate any balls.”

Belichick didn’t say anything about Shula and his comments. He didn’t speak publicly about the 1972 Dolphins. We don’t know how he felt about the whole thing. But, those words of hate didn’t stop him from paying respect to the legend.

Shula had 347 wins, playoffs included, and that makes the highest number in NFL history. Chicago Bears icon George Halas has 324 wins, and the Patriots head coach has 304. Belichick is about to enter a new season without Tom Brady and he hopes to add more wins to this number. Maybe reach the top?