FOXBORO -- In his opening statement during Wednesday's press conference, Bill Belichick acknowledged that he sent Donald Trump a letter, and he addressed the many inquiries he's received about the note since Trump read it aloud at a rally in New Hampshire on Monday night.
Belichick said his expression of support for the now President Elect was more about friendship than it was about politics.
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"I've received a number of inquiries relative to a note that I wrote to Donald on Monday. Our friendship goes back many years," Belichick said. "I think anybody who's spent more than five minutes with me knows I'm not a political person. My comments are not politically motivated. [It's about friendship and loyalty to Donald.]"
Belichick pointed out that the Patriots had Secretary of State John Kerry in their locker room recently in highlighting that his relationships span both major political parties.
"A couple of weeks ago, we had Secretary of State Kerry in our locker room. He's another friend of mine," Belichick said of Kerry. "Can't imagine two people with more different political views than those two."
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Belichick went on: "To me, freindship and loyalty is just about that. It's not about political or religious views. I write hundreds of letters and notes every month. It doesn't mean that I agree with every single thing that every person thinks about politics, religion or other subjects. But I have multiple friendships that are important to me, and that's what [the letter to Trump] was about."
With that, Belichick was ready to move on to this weekend's game with the Seahawks.
"It's not about politics," he said. "It's about football. We've got a huge game this week against a great football team, great organization, and that's where it all is going forward. On to Seattle."
When Belichick was asked for his reaction to Trump reading his letter, he responded only by saying, "Seattle."
When a follow-up was posed about distractions he may have created for his team, Belichick interrupted the reporter by repeating himself several times: "Seattle . . . Seattle . . . Seattle . . . Seattle . . ."
That successfuly warded off any further questions about Trump or politics or Election Day for much of the presser. The remainder of the press conference was spent discussing matchup problems that the Seahawks will pose Sunday night at Gillette Stadium.
The final two questions of the back-and-forth hit once again on Trump and Belichick's relationship with him. Any Trump stories he'd like to share?
"I could do a lot of that," Belichick said, "but the focus is on Seattle this week."
And what about his one-word "Seattle..." response? Did Belichick feel the need to squash the topic because it was "noise," something he encourages his players to avoid, that he created?
"This is where we are," Belichick said. "It's Wednesday before Seattle. It's Seattle."