Morning Sports Update
“I won’t lie. It’s nice.”
Bill Belichick on getting to attend Army-Navy: This Saturday, Gillette Stadium will host the famous annual college football rivalry of Army-Navy.
The classic game — a matchup dating back to 1890 — has special resonance with Bill Belichick, who grew up in Annapolis. His father coached and scouted for Navy for 34 years, providing the initial setting for Belichick’s football background.
Following the Patriots’ 21-18 win over the Steelers on Thursday, Belichick spoke to reporters on Friday morning. Asked about having the opportunity to attend the game in person on a rare free weekend during football season, the usually straight-faced Belichick smiled.
“I won’t lie. It’s nice,” he said.
Since entering the world of NFL coaching following his college graduation from Wesleyan University in 1975, Belichick has had little time for enjoying the annual festivities around attending Army-Navy.
As it turns out, Saturday will be a special circumstance.
“It’s nice that the schedule fell the way it did. Most years it doesn’t fall that way, but the fact that it did — and that it coincided with the game being in Foxborough — is nice,” Belichick explained. “I haven’t been able to attend an Army-Navy game like this since I was in college.”
As Belichick noted, anytime he’s been able to see games in the past, it was always built around time constraints of a normal Patriots Sunday kickoff the following day.
“There have been a handful of games that I’ve seen, but always with having to go to a meeting or something like that. So this is a really a nice luxury for me, and it’s been a long time since I’ve had an opportunity to do this. I’m very much looking forward to it.”
Belichick will also be a participant in the festivities. The longtime coach will make an appearance on ESPN’s “College GameDay” prior to kickoff on Saturday.
“It will be a great classic event for this region,” he said. “There’s really nothing like Army-Navy. I’ve been to a lot of big games, and I’ve seen a lot of big games, both collegiately and professionally, but Army-Navy is special.”
Trivia: Who is the most recent Navy player to win the Heisman Trophy?
(Answer at the bottom).
Hint: He went on to win two Super Bowls, and was named MVP in one of them.
Scores and schedules:
The Patriots scored three first half touchdowns and held on for a 21-18 win over the Steelers on Thursday.
Elsewhere, the Bruins lost to the Sabres at TD Garden, 3-1. Boston will host the Coyotes tomorrow at 1 p.m.
Tonight, the Celtics face the Knicks at TD Garden, with tipoff set for 7:30 p.m.
More from Boston.com:
Matthew Slater wasn’t scared of the “Terrible Towels”: The Patriots’ special teams ace led the postgame locker room talk.
On this day: In 1970, the Celtics cruised past the Buffalo Braves (now the Clippers) 122-102. John Havlicek led Boston with a triple-double, totaling 34 points, 16 rebounds, and 12 assists.
Daily highlight: JuJu Smith-Schuster made a quality turnaround catch against his old team on Thursday, finishing the night with four catches for 90 yards.
Trivia answer: Roger Staubach
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