How a napkin 16 years ago made Bill Belichick the most hated man in New York

When BB resigned as “HC of the NYJ,” he also made the Jets losers forever.

Bill Parcells is a Hall-of-Fame football coach and executive. His protégé, Bill Belichick, will join him in Canton once he retires. They were also at the center of the most defining moment in New York Jets history, 16 years ago today.

A clause in Belichick’s contract as associate head coach of Gang Green, under Parcells, stated that he would become the team’s new skipper once Parcells left. Sure enough, Parcells retired (temporarily) and left the team to Belichick after the 1999 season.

Every Jets fan knows the rest of the story. At his introductory press conference, instead of accepting the job and talking about the team going forward, Belichick surprisingly announced his resignation. He delivered his resignation letter on a napkin that read, “I resign as HC of the NYJ.”

Bold move.

During the ensuing half-hour press conference, Belichick spoke of the ongoing uncertainty in the ownership as the main reason for his sudden departure. A massive bidding war between the Dolan family and the Johnson family ensnared the entire franchise. By the time Woody Johnson signed the papers, though, Belichick was already on the way to his next destination.

That landing spot, New England, is where Belichick began his coaching legend, and the Jets have never recovered from losing him. The Patriots have won 14 division titles and four Super Bowls; the Jets claim just one AFC East crown and not even an appearance in the Big Game.

Jets fans can compile a laundry list of reasons to hate Belichick: his condescension, his infatuation with Pretty Boy Extraordinaire, Tom Brady, kissing his grown-up daughter on the mouth on national television, and even those stupid sleeveless hoodies he sports on the sideline. However, it all boils down to the simple fact that 16 years ago today, he took the easy way out.

No one knows if Belichick’s given reason is the truth. He may have been too scared to try to follow a Hall-of-Fame coach who presided over the second-greatest three-year stretch in franchise history. Perhaps he wanted to make a name for himself without the shadow of Parcells looming by going to a team that Parcells guided to a .500 record over four years. Maybe he really is the devil incarnated, destined to ruin the Jets and put their fans in misery until the day he disintegrates and descends back into the pits of hell.

Any way you slice it, it is unlikely that Belichick was telling the truth. He used the ownership state as a cop-out, almost definitely. The Dolans had (and still have) huge money, and its not like Belichick was averse to the idea of having a demanding, visible owner (see: Robert Kraft and Tom Brady).

Even if he didn’t like that ownership style, the Johnsons ended up buying the team anyway, and Woody Johnson is not as demanding of his team as James Dolan would have been (and has been of the Rangers). It would have been most prudent of Belichick to wait and see which group ended up buying the team before making a decision on his future. Instead, he masked his sentiments with long-winded turns of phrase about being uncomfortable with the ownership situation, and skipped town.

Belichick’s frosty exit only looked worse as he acheived more success in New England. All of the Patriots’s accolades have ben exacerbated by the fact that they could have belonged to the Jets, who were just as good as the Patriots in the late-1990’s, had Belichick not taken the low road.

The Jets have lost nearly 70 more games than the Patriots since 2000, and their carousel of head coaches (5) looks horrible given the fact that they could have had just one. Jets fans hate Belichick because of his success, New York’s failure, and Belichick’s emotional cowardice 16 years ago today.

At least all New Yorkers share in the hate.