NY Jets: Bill Belichick calls resigning ‘one of the great moments of my career’

Resigning as the NY Jets’ head coach is one of Bill Belichick’s career highlights.

The NY Jets don’t particularly like Bill Belichick. Bill Belichick isn’t exactly fond of the NY Jets. Their rivalry spans over two decades and is one of the deepest-rooted in all of professional sports.

Belichick, in many ways, is the impetus behind the legendary Patriots/Jets rivalry which, while mostly one-sided, has developed into one of the more heated in the NFL.

And for that reason, Belichick never shies away from taking the occasional shot at Gang Green. Whether he’s trolling the Jets with some coaching trickery on the field or making eye-rolling comments off of it, the six-time Super Bowl champion has always enjoyed messing with his division rivals.

A recent quote of his continued that tradition.

Belichick joined WEEI-FM’s Ordway, Merloni & Fauria on Tuesday to discuss a variety of topics, and the story of the day he resigned as the head coach of the Jets came up.

As always, Belichick made sure to take a couple of shots at the Jets while recounting the tale. The 68-year-old called resigning from the Jets “one of the greatest moments of my career” and insisted that he “just wasn’t going to stay there in that situation.”

Below is a complete excerpt from the segment.

“Well, not only one of the most defining, but you know, one of the great moments of my career. That combined with Robert [Kraft] giving me the opportunity to come here, I couldn’t have asked for anything more. That wasn’t a good situation for me and I didn’t want to be part of it, so I wasn’t. The other half of that was Robert giving me the opportunity to come here and trading, he gave up quite a bit to get me to come here, and that was a big trade. I am very thankful that it worked out. I appreciate all the support from Robert, the Kraft family, the Patriots organization and all the New England fans and I’ll keep trying to do my best for this team and this organization — give them the very best that can and I very thankful for the opportunity to come here. I just wasn’t going to stay there in that situation.”

The NY Jets and Bill Belichick go way back

Of course, Belichick now infamously resigned from the Jets just one day after succeeding Bill Parcells as the team’s head coach. Soon after, he was hired by the New England Patriots, but not before his new organization sent a first-round pick over in exchange for his services.

The rest is history.

Belichick went on to captain arguably the greatest dynasty in NFL history — one that would torment the Jets for the better part of two decades.

From Spygate to the Butt Fumble game, these two clubs share no shortage of controversial and/or contentious moments since Belichick joined New England.

And even though the Patriots’ time in the limelight seems to be fading, Belichick will never pass up an opportunity to dig the knife a little deeper into the wound of his former team.

Just add his latest comments to the list.