The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 76

D12 The Boston Globe FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2002 Patiiots I flams super bowl xxxvi Father knows (Belichick) best By Kevin Paul Dupont GLOBE STAFF EW ORLEANS Personality momentarily supplanted pigskin in what was at times an amusing topic here yesterday leading up to Super -3 1 Til iV 1 r. f. late-summer days in Annapolis. Ernie George, the Midshipmen's offensive line coach, was a regular visitor to the Belichick household, and many was the time he would sit in the Belichicks' screened porch and devise strategy for the upcoming season. "We would sit around and talk and have a beer, and Bill would just sit and listen," recalled Steve.

"We would talk. When the season would start, we would make up a game plan we would call it a ready list and every week that was made up. As soon as it was made up, Ernie would get it and put on the top of it: TO Then he would fold it, put it in an envelope, put his name on the envelope, and he would say to me, "You give this to Bill this is Bill's ready list' Bill Belichick was then in grammar school. But his heroes were the Middies football players, including Winchester, Joe Bellino, winner of the 1960 Heisman Trophy. He wouldn't just read the ready list.

He would devour it It began, a proud father figures, about the time Bill was in second grade. "He would take it up to his room and he may still have some of 'em," said Steve. "He knew how we called plays. He knew 28 was a sweep, and 26 was off tackle, 30 and 3 1 were for the fullback. And all the pass plays hook, Banana Banana he knew 'em all." Hard to believe, better than 40 years later, the NFL's defensive genius was first schooled in the game's offensive subtleties.

"Let me tell you," said Steve, scoffing some at use of the word "genius." "You dont know defense unless you first learn offense." Just like maybe you dont know his son. know. Whatever the Belichick made it clear no one should doubt his son's work ethic or his vision for achieving what he sets out to do. Nantucket, said the senior Belichick, was the proof of that "He decided a long time ago that he wanted to have a house on Nantucket," said Steve, recalling how Bill first visited the island with friends in junior high school. "So when he came with the Giants, my wife and I had never been to Nantucket So he said, 'Let's We went up, and he decided he would have a house there, because he really loved the place and does and so he made a plan, and he bought abig lot "He had a house built for speculative reasons, Lived in itayear in the summer, put it up for sale for $175,000.

Someone offered him $171,000, and he didnt take it The next summer he put it up for $260,000 and sold it And then he built the house he has there now. He was determined he was going to build in Nantucket and he did. "Everything he does, he plans. It may take a couple of years, but he is not haphazard in his thinking. He gives it plenty of thought" It was the same cerebral Bill who first began to dissect film and game plans in those years his father was part of Wayne Hardin's highly successful staff at the US Naval Academy.

Over the years, Hardin saw the likes of assistants Rick Forzano, J.D. Roberts, George Welsh, and Doug Scovil all get promoted to NFL jobs. Ultimately, Belichick also moved to the top professional ranks, but it was Belichick junior rather than senior. His son's passion for the game, recalled Steve, was in part acquired during Bowl Sunday. Work the room? Uh-uh.

Not his son, not at age 49, and not ever. His boy, Bill, is all sideline, no Seinfeld. But by his father's account, Bill Belichick's personality, like his coaching ability, was misjudged during his five seasons as head coach of the Cleveland Browns. Steve Belichick, 83 years old and more than a decade removed from his 33 years as an assistant coach at Navy, made it clear he doesnt much care for the public perception that Bill, his only child, would be severely challenged in a Mr. Congeniality contest That is completely the wrong percep-, tion," said the senior Belichick, talking with reporters in a downtown hotel, some 72 hours before his son's Patriots will face the St.

Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. "Now, he's not going to come over and take over a crowd. He's not going to come in and tell jokes I dont think IVe ever heard him tell a joke in his life. He's never said, "Hey, Dad, I heard a good one last Ifs apparent to this parent, who first watched his son break down Navy game film as a grade-schooler, that Bill's personality is misunderstood, relating back to those Cleveland days. "Well, they tabbed him some of them as not being very good," said the Belichick, referring to print and electronic reporters around the Browns at the time.

"His relationship with the me--dia in Cleveland was not good." GLOBE STAFF PHOTOJIM DAVIS Steve Belichick, the 83-year-old father of the Patriots coach, holds court. Earlier in the morning, during a 15-minute media briefing, Bill did elicit some chuckles from the media and himself when a reporter posed a question relating to Belichick not being a very personable coach. He was asked if he had worked to change that since his Cleveland days, and if that image bothered him. "Uh, I dont know," said Belichick, a smile growing wider as he pondered his own personality, and perhaps the thought of now defending it before a group of some 500 media members. That's a good question The laughs built in the crowd the longer he allowed his answer to remain in abeyance.

"Have I lightened up a little bit? I probably have," the coach said. "In Cleveland, I might have been a little too rough on the players at times. In the end, my intent isnt to try to have conflict, or try to be iron-fisted, or tyrannical, or anything like that but to just try to get it done, get through a message. However that's interpreted, ni leave it up to the media." For more than 30 minutes, the senior Belichick freely discussed a wide range of subjects, appearing to enjoy himself as he held court with many of the reporters who say his son is either a stuffed shirt, an SOB, or, at best, a difficult guy to get to 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 SEASON snapshots: DEC. 16, 2001 First game merits passing glance ByJimMcCabe GLOBE STAFF NEW ORLEANS 1 It was more than I Kjf 1 1 two months ago, but Ir A a iff i the Rams' 24-17 win ftftfrfl over the Patriots at notebook Foxboroughisan-.

cient history to Kurt Warner. "We can take out of that game i -thp fart that we won on their turf i -M and that they threw a lot of things 'in. at us and we handled it," said the Rams miartprhark "hut thars about it really." OK, he completed 30 of 42 passes for 401 yards and three touchdowns of my better games," conceded Warner), "but they're a different team now and Louis has no use for Bidwill, except for the trade that involved the Rams and Cardinals last spring, which brought in Aeneas Williams in exchange for second- and fourth-round draft picks. The standout cornerback is a huge part of the Rams' third-ranked defense and a big reason the team is in the Super Bowl for the second time in three years. "Ifs the nicest thing Bill Bidwill has ever done for St Louis," said defensive end Grant Wistront Six former Super Bowl MVPs Len Dawson, Desmond Howard, Joe Montana, Richard Dent, Randy White, and Franco Harris were on hand for one of the many NFL celebrations.

All six picked the Rams to win, though they took note of the improved prize that the MVP receives a Cadillac "I got a Plymouth," said Dawson. Howard (Green Bay, 1997) and Dent (Chicago, 1986) were MVPs in victories over the Patriots St Louis and New England each had a loyal supporter inducted into the Hall of Fans and it wasnt hard to spot them. Kathy Lewis wore a Rams jersey with 6-inch plastic rams attached to each shoulder, while Randy Zip Pierce of Nashua was decked out in red, white, and blue, from Patriots jersey, to his trousers, to his sequined hat One to grow on The Rams used the 12th pick in the 2001 draft to select defen sive tackle Damione Lewis from the University of Miami. He showed some promise in the exhibition season and appeared in nine games, starting three, while notching 25 tackles. But he injured his foot against the Patriots Nov.

18 and was lost for the season. "Hell end up being a good player in this league," defensive line coach Bill Kollar said. "He's a good, hard worker and he was right in our rotation when he got hurt Ifs tough for him, but ifs also part of the game. It should make him even more hungry for next year." Kollar said Lewis's main problem was weight or lack thereof. The Rams wanted him to play in the 295-pound range, but after a few weeks of training camp, Lewis was down to 280.

"But he's back up to 292 now," Kollar said, "so if he keeps it up, hell get there in plenty of time for next season." Man or myth? Williams says his unusual first name came courtesy of his dad, Lawrence, who studied Greek mythology asahobby. "He just wanted to make sure that none of his kids had the names that all the other kids had," said Williams, who has a brother named Achilles. Williams said his name means "praiseworthy" and that some of his teammates use that as a nickname. Williams, a New Orleans wr r- uuiclciil icaiu. iuu loii go by that game.

The kev for us is to set a sense of what is going on and adjust quickly because I know they're go- ing to throw a lot of things at us that we didnt see before." Warner said he could svmrja- AP PHOTO David Patten (86) loses the ball as he's hit by Bills' Keion Carpenter. Initially ruled a fumble, the call is overturned. Valued possession HOW Can a team win with an unconscious player on the field? Leave it to the Patriots to resort to Rule 3, Section 20, Article 2, Paragraph of the NFL rule book. Locked in a 9-9 game in overtime Dec. 16 at Orchard Park, N.Y, the Patriots were having problems putting away the pesky Buffalo Bills.

After making a catch at the 41-yard line, it appeared Patten had fumbled after being blasted by Keion Carpenter on the sideline. The ball fell to Patten's legs and was scooped up by Nate Clements. But after the play was reviewed by the officials, it was determined that even though Patten's unconscious head was out of bounds, the ball was at his legs inbounds therefore the ball was in the possession of the receiver. Antowain Smith ran for 38 yards on the next play and Adam Vinatieri won the game with a 23-yard field goal. NICKCAFARDO Weis's biggest call will come postgame native, turned down an academic scholarship to Dartmouth to follow his brother and father and attend Southern University.

He made the team as a walk-on and the rest is history. Many feel there's a spot in Canton, Ohio, awaiting him At times, it appears as if they are trying to fit a football game around a music recital. The press releases regarding entertainment are seemingly endless, and you find yourself wondering how Slim Whitman didnt get invited. Not content to simply get the game underway with the national anthem, the NFL brain-trust has enlisted Paul McCartney to perform as a lead-in to "America the Beautiful," which will be sung by Mary J. Blige and Marc Anthony as a lead-in to Mariah Carey belting out "Oh, say can you see Quite the stuff, but why stop there? Accompanying Carey will be the Boston Pops.

Cant get any better than that, you say? Think again, because pre-game entertainment will also involve Yolanda Adams, James Ingram, Part! LaBelle, Barry Manilow, and Wynonna, and when the final seconds tick off, there will be 22 cannons blasting more confetti than ever before seen at a Super Bowl. One can barely wait, but it makes you wonder how the marching bands from Arizona and Michigan universities were able to handle all this pressure back in Super Bowl I. iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiii NFL playoffs WILD-CARD WEEKEND Saturday, Jan. 12 At Philadelphia 31 Tampa Bay 9 At Oakland 38 NY Jets 24 Sunday, Jan. 13 At Green Bay 25 San Fran.

15 Baltimore 20 at Miami 3 CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS Saturday, Jan. 19 At New England 16 Oak.l3(OT) Philadelphia 33 at Chicago 19 Sunday, Jan. 20 At Pittsburgh 27 Baltimore 10 At St. Louis 45 Green Bay 17 CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS Sunday, Jan. 27 AFC New England 24 at Pittsburgh 17 NFC At St.

Louis 29 Philadelphia 24 SUPER BOWL XXXVI Sunday, Feb. 3 at New Orleans New England vs. St Louis 6:28 Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit'imiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii thize with the situation Tom Brady and Drew Bledsoe have endured this season. In 1999, Warner was projected to be St Louis's second-string quarterback, but starter Trent Green went down in a preseason game. Playing Lou Gehrig to Green's Wally Pipp, Warner never looked back, moving into the starting lineup and leading the Rams to a Super Bowl victory.

"It's a tough situation," said Warner, "but it's easier for me and Tom Brady. That's because Trent and Drew lost something and didnt get it back." A little forgiveness Bill Bidwill is a very unpopular man in St Louis, having moved the Cardinals to Arizona years ago. That left St Louis without a pro football team until the Rams relocated from Los Angeles in 1 f(U ByNickCafardo GLOBE STAFF 3 NEW ORLEANS It's that blinders mentality that has helped the Patriots stay focused this season. But soon the blinders come off. A PATRIOTS NOTEBOOK lyyo.

OLUL, uicciuzeiiryuioL. I 1 1 1 1 I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Super Bowl coverage on Boston.com Vote in this poll: Should second day at Tulane University in 80-degree temperatures and partly cloudy conditions. "We had a chance to sweat out some of those vitamins and minerals our guys took in Sunday and Monday night," said Belichick The Patriots' curfews are stricter now midnight tonight and 1 1 p.m. tomorrow Three charter planes of family and Patriots employees arrived yesterday. Asked if that might be a distraction, Belichick said, "No, I think it gives us more normalcy." Players are off-limits to media today.

The team will have its final practice at 12:30 p.m. Anthony Pleasant said he was initially hesitant to join the Patriots because he didnt want to get beat up in practice this late in his career. He had played for Belichick previously and knew of the physical workouts. But he said he was relieved when he spoke to Scott Pioll, Johnson, and Eric Manglnl of the Patriots staff, who assured him Belichick had les Charlie Weis seek out or ac big issue to be settled is the future of offensive coordinator Charlie Weis, whose contract is up. "Well deal with that next week," said Weis yesterday.

"I wouldn't even comment on that right now." Weis is said to be a candidate for the head coaching job in Tampa Bay, or could join John Fox, an old friend from his New York Giants days, in Carolina The most plausible move is to stay in New England with Bill Belichick. Weis has directed his agents not to pursue the matter until after the season. Things are heating up The Patriots practiced for a cept a neaa coacning jod, or stay in New England out of loyalty to the team? Test your knowledge of Super Bowl history by taking a very tough quiz. Read Boston.com Sports Editor Chris Begley's story on New Englanders in the Big Easy for the Big Game. it 1 1 1 1 1 i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 i GlOBt SIAfF PHOTOBILL GNtENE Marian Carey, who will sing the national anthem with accompaniment from the Boston Pops, is only part of the show.

sened his demands..