During the AFC Championship, during which the NFL confiscated and investigated 12 footballs used by the Patriots, Bill Belichick stuck to his usual uniform of an ill-fitting sweatsuit and Dad Socks.
Multimillionaire and one of the greatest strategic minds of our generation? Or your grad school boyfriend braving the laundromat on a Sunday?
Victory was sweet. But then...
...it was announced that the NFL was investigating the team over a set of underinflated footballs they'd inspected during the AFC Championship game.
So he wore a collared shirt and a Patriots zip-up during his first press conference to address the scandal.
If his words — of which there were surprisingly many — did not convey the gravity of the investigation, his downright formal attire did.
Who's that dignified-looking man speaking about his team's possible indignities?
But then the Patriots decided it was time to go on the offensive, and Belichick gave a news conference in which he explained some science behind air pressure in footballs.
He went with the same Patriots zip-up, but switched to a buttoned-down–to–business look.
At that point, we knew Bill and the Patriots were simply not havin' it.
When the Patriots arrived in Arizona two days later for the Super Bowl, Belichick rolled up to the podium in a suit.
It's a look you might expect to see from Belichick only if Hell had truly frozen over, but he donned it for a Super Bowl presser while his team's integrity was shrouded in controversy.
Just before Belichick took the stage, Patriots owner Robert Kraft told reporters that if the investigation turns up no evidence of wrongdoing, the NFL owes the team, the coach, and the quarterback an apology. And then...
...Bill smiled.
And thus, it was clear: The Patriots are not taking this investigation sitting down.
The investigation is expected to continue for another few weeks. The Patriots appear in the Super Bowl on Sunday.
