We all know how Bill Belichick is. He’s always cunning and coy on matters regarding his team. He’s a master of misdirection.
He rarely reveals the logic behind his decisions because it could give the opponent a slight advantage. And that exact mentality has made him into the greatest coach in NFL history.
That’s why his answer on the Patriots’ decision to cut Cam Newton was just so confusing.
Belichick was asked whether Newton’s vaccination status and being in the NFL’s COVID-19 protocol was part of the decision to let him go.
As expected, Belichick remained coy and simply said “no.” But afterward, he went on an odd spiel about the vaccine that, honestly, just didn’t make a ton of sense.
He made sure to note “a pretty high number” of folks in the NFL who had been vaccinated still contracted COVID-19 and said the vaccine doesn’t solve “every problem.”
It was truly out of nowhere.
Bill Belichick: "Your implication that the vaccination solves every problem…has not been substantiated. The number of players and coaches and staff members who have been infected with COVID after being vaccinated is a pretty high number. I wouldn't lose sight of that."
— Michael Giardi (@MikeGiardi) September 1, 2021
It’s also not exactly true. The NFL had 68 players and staff test positive for COVID-19 from August 1 to 21, per ESPN’s Mike Reiss. That was out of 7,190 tested individuals during that stretch which is a shade less than 1% of those tested.
The rate of positive tests among unvaccinated NFL personnel was seven times higher than that of vaccinated personnel, per Reiss. It’s also worth noting that a whopping 90% of NFL players had, at least, one dose of the vaccine on August 3.
No matter how you shake it, that’s not a”pretty high number.” Not in the least bit. Yes, people who are vaccinated can still contract COVID. On a basic level, no vaccine is 100% preventative.
But it’s pretty evident that while it isn’t 100%, it’s pretty close. And it’s worked for the NFL so far. So this was just a strange moment from Belichick. One that didn’t really make a ton of sense or seem to have a ton of purpose here.
Only he knows what he was trying to do here. It could be him trying to deflect from Newton’s vaccination status being a factor in cutting him. This could also be something he truly believes. It could be him just trying to confuse everyone by spreading misinformation.
We don’t know. We can’t tell. Either way, he was dead wrong.
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