They go back 44 years, before they won Super Bowl XXI together, long before Harry Carson entered the Hall of Fame, long before Bill Belichick won his six Super Bowl championships with Tom Brady, long before the rampant speculation has been swirling about Patriots owner Robert Kraft parting with the HC of the NEP following these last two games of the season.
“The Belichick that I know,” Carson said, “is completely different than the Belichick that most people know.”
Carson had just notched the first of his nine Pro Bowl honors when he first met Ray Perkins’ special teams coach at Pace University training camp. Belichick was 27. Carson was 25.
“He was out on the field timing hang time for Dave Jennings’ punts,” Carson said.
The young Belichick didn’t initially have much street cred as a former lacrosse player when he inherited the Crunch Bunch — Carson, Lawrence Taylor, Brad Van Pelt and Brian Kelley — after adding linebackers coach to his résumé in 1980.
“We were skeptics, and he made believers out of us,” Carson said.
All the way up to Super Bowl XXI, when Belichick was defensive coordinator, when Carson doused Bill Parcells twice with Gatorade baths following the Giants’ win over John Elway and the Broncos … and Belichick once.
“I don’t think he was expecting it because it was more about Parcells getting it than him getting it,” Carson recalled. “I think he enjoyed it. He didn’t run from it.”
Carson retired as Giants captain after the 1988 season and the Browns hired Belichick as the NFL’s youngest head coach following the Giants’ Super Bowl XXV win over the Bills.
“When I left the Giants I wrote [Browns owner] Art Modell,” Carson said. “I sent him a letter of recommendation for Belichick.”
Belichick reunited with Parcells in New England in 1996 and then with the Jets, where he succeeded Parcells for 24 hours before resigning as HC of the NYJ.
“There had to be a reason why he did not want that position,” Carson said. “I just figured he was doing the best thing for himself.”
When Belichick won his first Super Bowl in 2002?
“I wasn’t surprised. I was very happy for him,” Carson said.
Belichick had won three Super Bowls by the time Carson was about to finally be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton in 2006.
“There was a dinner for me at Gallaghers in the city,” Carson said. “And Parcells was there, Belichick was there, Willie Jeffries, my college [South Carolina State] coach, was there … it was a tremendous honor that those guys would come back and be a part of congratulating me for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.”
Carson recalls Belichick bringing the 2019 Patriots to Canton before joint practices with the Lions.
“One of the things I admire about Belichick is he tries to get players to understand the history of the game of football,” he said. “I was in Canton for the induction ceremony and he carved out time to bring his team to Canton for the Pro Football Hall of Fame to get a good understanding of the history of the game.
“One of the other things that he has done is he has worked to bring more individuals or young people or young people of color into coaching and management.”
Belichick showed up to congratulate former Patriots cornerback Ty Law on his HOF induction.
“He stays behind the scenes,” Carson said. “You would not know that he was there unless you saw him backstage. If he had a player who was going into the Hall of Fame, he would come and be there to congratulate the player backstage. He was not one to be in the spotlight. I have pictures of him backstage.”
When Carson began to organize the Giants’ 25th anniversary reunion of Super Bowl XXI in Secaucus, he contacted four men — Parcells, Belichick, Taylor and Phil Simms — before proceeding.
“It was like being back in the locker room in ’86,” Carson said.
A piece of Belichick’s heart has never stopped beating DC of the NYG.
“I only know the Giant side of him,” Carson said. “I also will venture to say that when there have been players who have had issues, whether it be mental or financial or whatever, he has been there to help the players who played for him in any way possible.”
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Carson was conflicted attending the Giants’ 10-7 win over the Patriots on his 70th birthday, Nov. 26.
“My wife gave me this really big birthday dinner the night before in Edgewater,” Carson said. “And she asked me who would I like to be there, and I said, ‘Belichick. He’s in town. He’s a friend.’ And then I thought to myself, ‘Bill Belichick’s not gonna come to a birthday celebration. He’s about focusing on the game.’ ”
Carson speaks or texts with the monkish Belichick infrequently during the season.
“I texted him earlier this season when things weren’t going all that great, and I just said, ‘Hang in there,’ ” Carson said. “And he texted me back and he said, ‘Thanks.’ So there’s not a whole lot to say. I’m pulling for him, and want him to do well. He’s one of our guys.”
He feels for his friend at the end of this 4-11 season.
“With going to Super Bowl after Super Bowl, it probably is very difficult for him to deal with at this time,” Carson said.
Belichick (336 wins) has done a bad job as GM and if he wants to remain with the Patriots for a 25th season and beyond and hunt down Don Shula (347) for all-time regular-season and playoff wins, he might have to relinquish control over personnel … if Kraft allows it. Compound that with Mac Jones flaming out and here we are.
“Bill is Bill. When you see him in a press conference, that is the same way that he would be in meetings, that dry, monotone delivery,” Carson said. “That’s Bill Belichick. I think if you ask any of the players who have played for him, they played for one of the absolute best coaches to coach in the National Football League.
“I know you want to get into this, ‘Can Belichick win without Brady, can Brady win without Belichick?’ I understand all that. I can only go off of what I’ve experienced, and quite frankly, he made me a better player. If he didn’t make other players better players, perhaps they weren’t listening. From where I sit, I find myself to be very lucky and very privileged to play for one of the best coaches to ever coach in the National Football League.”
Carson said he believes Belichick, 71, would want to keep coaching — wherever it is.
“I think he’d want to stay,” Carson said. If he can’t? “I think if the opportunity presented itself, yeah, he probably would wind up going someplace else,” he said.
“If this is his last couple of weeks in football or with the Patriots, I’ll send him a text and I’ll say, ‘Job well done. And let’s get together for dinner,’ ” Carson said.
It is difficult to believe Belichick would want to go out like this.
“If it is his last year and if he doesn’t coach anymore,” Harry Carson said, “I’ll reserve a seat for him in Canton.”