The 5-1 Patriots are off this week, taking time to get healthy and regroup for the final 10 games of the season. They're currently atop the AFC East, like virtually every other year with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, and have gotten better over the first six weeks, which is exactly what you like to see in a football team. (No need to peak in September, after all.)
On Tuesday, Belichick held the first of two bye-week press conferences and he showed up sporting what ESPNBoston.com's Chris Forsberg called "the bye-week throwback hoodie" (seen above).
Belichick is the unwitting originator of hobo chic, what with the hooded sweatshirt and matching pants (or on special occasions: khakis and Seinfeld-white sneakers). And now, his looks, to borrow a phrase from Heidi Klum, are fashion forward.
Via Forsberg: Asked if it was his "bye week" hoodie, Belichick smiled and noted, "Might be." When it was noted that we haven't seen that style from Belichick before, he quipped: "You don’t want to make it too popular and take over the gray one."
But it gets better. You'd think a 59-year-old coach with absolutely no interest in couture would have no bearing on people's fashion purchases. And you'd be wrong.
Details via ESPNBoston.com's Mike Reiss:
When I popped into the Pro Shop today on way out of Gillette Stadium, all that was left was just one, a lonely XX-sized 'bye week' hoodie. The rest had flown off the shelves since pictures of Belichick surfaced Tuesday.
This isn't meant to serve as an advertisement for the hoodie; the team doesn't need any help in that area. Instead, it is passed along to reflect how Belichick, who isn't one for fashion statements, has popularized the hoodie in New England. All it took was for him to show up at his Tuesday news conference in the hoodie, followed by the ever-growing media relaying the images, to spark the unexpected surge."
Now all Belichick needs is a Bieber/Brady-inspired wig-trim.
