A bully hates being bullied, and a genius hates his failures being pointed out, so Bill Belichick passing on a postgame interview with CBS isn't exactly shocking, especially after the New England Patriots suffered a 28-13 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Sunday's AFC Championship Game.
On NFL Network
NFL Replay will re-air
the Baltimore Ravens' 28-13 victory over the
New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game on Wednesday, Jan. 23 at 8 p.m. ET.
Shannon Sharpe, Hall of Fame tight end-turned-CBS studio analyst, took it as a slight and ripped the three-time Super Bowl champion coach.
"There's something to be said about being gracious in defeat," Sharpe said on CBS' postgame show, via USA Today. "We've seen the New England Patriots five times in the last 12 years be victorious. And we've seen the opposing coaches that lost come out and speak to our Steve Tasker. Coach (Bill) Cowher (who was sitting next to Sharpe) did it when they lost. We saw this last week (when the Patriots beat the Houston Texans).
"Bill Belichick makes it very easy for you to root against the Patriots. You can't be a poor sport all the time. You're not going to win every time. And he does this every time he loses. It is unacceptable."
Sharpe's outrage is a bit overstated. Would he be irritated if Atlanta Falcons coach Mike Smith didn't talk to Fox after the NFC Championship Game loss?
Belichick did face the media at the podium, a task which he is contractually obligated to perform. Had he skipped that session, then he would be wide open to ridicule.
Sharpe might be correct that it's easy to root against the Patriots, but that's not because we missed out on Belichick mumbling his way through another interview.
Follow Kevin Patra on Twitter @kpatra.
