Bill Belichick carries a reputation that he’s a standoffish person who can be very cold at times.
But, as we’ve seen over the years, he’s capable of smiling and being a much brighter personality than often displayed. Players like Reggie Wayne have attested to Belichick’s kind and caring side — noting a time that Belichick told him to keep a $250,000 signing bonus without playing more than a month for the New England Patriots.
Longtime reporter Michelle Tafoya is another person who’s been close to Belichick over the years and has seen his giving side.
“I got a Christmas card from him this year. I have every year,” she said Richard Deitch’s podcast, as transcribed by WEEI. “I do feel like there’s a relationship there. It’s just, there have been some really fun great moments, and just some that have been more challenging. And I’m going to take some responsibility for that, asking bad questions.”
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Tafoya, who’s been a NFL reporter since 2004, discussed the not-so-fun moments with Belichick.
“You’re walking in knowing that it’s not going to be necessarily fun,” she said. “Some of that is on me. If I asked a question that was not a good question, he would let me know. Over the course of time, I tried to learn how to present questions to him in a way that was more intelligent. Look, I’ve been at this for a long time, so there was always room for growth and improvement with me. Always still is. It was always a little bit of a pit in the stomach.”
In Deitsch’s column for The Athletic, he revealed that Tafoya will be leaving NBC to be the co-chair of a political campaign for businessman Kendall Qualls.
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