Elephant in the Room: Belichick's Health

The elephant in the room in the NFL is not player health hazards, it's not player concussions; it's the coaches' health. In the past few years there have been more stories of coaches being rushed and/or spending nights in the hospital.

The latest coach to fall victim to this trend was New York Jets Head Coach Todd Bowles.
Before the Jets were set to travel to New England, Bowles was admitted to a New York hospital and did not travel with the team to New England but did meet the team just before the game. After a 41-3 trouncing, Bowles announced to the media it was kidney and gall stones that sent him to the hospital.

He wasn't the only head coach who dealt with serious health conditions this season. Denver Bronco Head Coach Gary Kubiak spent a week off the sideline in October dealing with a complex migraine issue and general manager John Elway came out and addressed the issue. Three years ago, while coaching with the Texans Kubiak suffered a mini-stroke" and collapsed on the field.


There's no doubt that coaching, at any level is particularly stressful, but when you're an NFL head coach it is even more hazardous. When in-season, coaches work 15-hour days, getting into work at 5:30 in the morning and sometimes staying until 10:30 at night. In some circumstances, they don't leave the stadium. In other cases, they will have a cot in the office where when it gets too late into the night they will sleep instead of driving home only to get an hour of sleep before having to be back at work. It's a grueling lifestyle and it's not for everyone.

But one thing that is always surprising is Bill Belichick's health. You don't hear a lot of about the status of Belichick's health. You don't hear out of the Patriots "Belichick has been taken to the hospital" or he "collapsed on the sideline." He's remained relatively healthy compared to some of him contemporaries.

Some of it may be obvious. In the NFL Films' A Football Story on Belichick, he's spotted walking on a treadmill in the morning while studying plays and it appears is if it is a daily thing he does. Belichick is a routine-oriented guy. He doesn't do anything outside of the normal for him.

He's 64 years old, the age when most people start to relax and retire, but Belichick shows no signs of stopping. Football is his life. It's always been his life since the days when he was a little kid studying Navy game film with his father, Steve. It's the same thing with Tom Brady, who is approaching 40 and the end of his Hall of Fame career but shows no signs of a drop-off.

Their lives have been built around football. Everything was football. They don't know how to live without it. So in order to keep it going for as long as they can continue, they know they have to take care of themselves. Hence why Brady eats avocado ice cream. Belichick may not go that far but he's taking care of himself. He sleeps when he can. Stays away from the bad food and probably limits his alcohol consumption.

Additionally, even if something had happened to Belichick it would be a huge distraction and we all know how much he hates the "D-word." If something happened, Bob or Jonathan Kraft would have to address it to the team, coaching staff and the media. The media would be asking questions to only Bob and Jonathan but also to Brady, Edelman, McCourty and other members of team who are allowed to talk to the media. It would be a huge distraction.

Even if it's not for his own personal health reasons, it's for the team's benefit and Belichick looks at that too.