Peter King covered Bill Belichick throughout his NFL career, watching him rise from a whiz Giants assistant to arguably the greatest NFL coach of all-time with the Patriots.
Seeing the notoriously cagey Belichick now becoming involved in all this drama connected to his 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson, especially with her recent much-scrutinized role in his disastrous “CBS Sunday Morning” interview, has shocked the retired NFL insider — and left him quite critical of the North Carolina coach.
“This is a guy who owned every room he ever walked into and now he’s got a 24-year-old muse telling him what to do or trying to control situations that quite frankly she has nothing to do with or should have nothing to do with,” King said on the “Sports Media with Richard Deitsch” podcast published Thursday.
“Bill’s got to get a hold of himself here. He’s got to get a hold of this situation. This is embarrassing. It’s totally embarrassing for a guy who’s as great at his job as he is.”
Belichick and Hudson’s relationship has become one of the biggest storylines in all of sports, especially after her interference in his recent interview to discuss his upcoming book.
Hudson interrupted interviewer Tony Dokoupil after he asked how they first met, saying that would not be discussed, and the segment labeled her as a “constant presence” in their interview.
Belichick later accused CBS of “selective editing” and defended Hudson’s role in the interview.
“This would’ve been a ‘Mike and the Mad Dog’ spectacular back in the old days,” King said of the drama.
Page Six also reported that Hudson “forced” her way into the Dunkin’ Donuts commercial featuring Belichick and Ben Affleck, among others.
Reports have emerged stating North Carolina is “concerned,” while some in Belichick’s camp told The Post that they see the former collegiate cheerleader as a “runaway train.”
Former Patriots offensive lineman Ted Johnson said North Carolina should consider firing Belichick, while friend Charles Barkley said he’s a “little concerned.”
It’s all a stark contrast to the Belichick which King and others chronicled during his NFL days.
King and Belichick no longer had a relationship as of two years ago, with the two falling apart following the SpyGate controversy that rocked the NFL world.
“That’s the cost of doing business sometimes,” King told The Athletic in 2023. “He’s one of the greatest coaches of all time. I’m not sure I put him above Paul Brown, but he’s right up there with the greatest to ever coach in any sport. But I think what he did in 2007 was wrong.”
King also ripped Belichick for conducting the interview, meant to publicize his upcoming book, “The Art of Winning: Lessons from My Life in Football”, while wearing a ripped sweatshirt.
“(He) goes on Sunday morning television with a sweatshirt on with a hole in it,” King said, “but then why … a couple days after this, why does TMZ have him walking out of the Ritz-Carlton hotel, I think in New York, in a perfectly tailored blue suit. Why? Where is he going? And why is he on a national TV show looking like he’s going to a press conference in Foxborough on no sleep.”
King believes Belichick looked like an “idiot” and did not convince viewers to buy his book, although he did offer praise for the contents.
“That was a terrible look in the first place, but in general if you’re going to be promoting a book, or you’re going to be doing interviews, you can’t the sullen, disinterested person that Bill Belichick was for CBS,” King said of Belichick’s roughly eight-minute interview. “You just shouldn’t do it then. Why do it? Anyone who watched that piece, anyone. For me, if I’m watching that, ‘I’m not buying that idiot’s book. Why would I buy this guy? I hate this guy.’ That is going to be the impression I get.
“Now, I think there’s a lot of good of stuff in the book.”