Bill Belichick Apologizes for Rob Gronkowski’s Dirty Hit: ‘It Was Bullsh-t’
New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick apologized to Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott following Sunday’s game for Rob Gronkowski’s late hit on rookie Tre’Davious White. Belichick was seen doing so in a video posted by WROC‘s Prescott Rossi.
“I understand,” Belichick said to McDermott. “It was bullshit. I’m sorry. I apologize.”
The play occurred in the fourth quarter following an interception by White. While White was laying face-down on the ground, Gronkowski (who was the intended receiver on the play) dove into White from behind and hit him in the head with his shoulder. White was helped off of the field and placed in the concussion protocol, but it didn’t result in an ejection for Gronkowski. He was instead penalized for unnecessary roughness, although the NFL could choose to suspend him in the coming days.
this is disgusting from gronk pic.twitter.com/jd6x17lkiO
— Max Wildstein (@MaxWildstein) December 3, 2017
Gronkowski apologized for the hit after the game. The reason he was frustrated, he explained, was because he felt as though there should have been a flag on the play. Gronkowski was also frustrated with previous calls against him, saying the referees called him for the “craziest stuff ever” on a couple of occasions earlier in the game.
“It was a couple times in the game, and they’re calling me for the craziest stuff ever,” Gronkowski said. “And it’s like crazy, like, what I am supposed to do? And then they don’t call that. It was just frustration, and that’s what happened.”
Regardless, McDermott said he was “not happy” about the play. His feelings were echoed by some of White’s teammates. Micah Hyde called it a “dirty play” and expressed his amazement that Gronkowski wasn’t ejected; Richie Incognito said he’s “sure the league office is going to have something to say about it.”