Friday Four-Pack 5.23.25

A review of Bill Belichick's new book. Tom Brady comeback, again? The Preakness winner ran huge. I'm attacked in the comments!

“This is now the Belichick gossip column. Eesh

I understand the impulse. I just find it creepy and not interesting enough to hear about it with such frequency. It’s an instant tune-out for me, which makes me wonder how many others are starting to feel the same way.”

Commenter Dan was unhappy with last week’s Friday Four-Pack, which focused on Bill Belichick getting rattled on live television when asked some simple questions about his 24-year-old girlfriend, Jordon Hudson.

With the NY Times report this week that Hudson has told at least one person that the happy couple is engaged, my instinct was to write about it. Again.

But, I am always open to feedback from the loyal MutStack audience. So, rather than write thousands of words about the busy week for the reportedly future Mr. and Mrs. Belichick, here is their week in pictures.

TMZ gets the credit for this fantastic picture

TMZ.com posted this picture and this story this week, following the NY Times piece on the possible engagement. They speculate that adding the “I” to the already-eight rings—symbolizing Belichick’s eight Super Bowl rings—is to commemorate their engagement ring. 💍

The story also speculates that it could be an homage to Hudson’s National Championship ring from her time as a cheerleader at Bridgewater State, which Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy also suggested.

I’m not sure which answer is worse.

Okay, I’m cheating here, but this is technically an image of words from the NY Times article.

The BB/Hudson relationship timeline, including when they met, is starting to come under the microscope. The red pants story is fun; I’m sure someone will find a photo of her at training camp in the next few days.

Are players allowed to have guests at the hotel the night before games, or was that a head coaching perk?

I love Old Bay seasoning. Putting it on wings looks like a great idea. Not sure I love Belichick being called the “Old Bae” in the relationship. I’m old, I get it. And Instagram is cool, I’m not. But you can’t post this and then complain about the attention your relationship is getting in the media or on social media.

If and when the engagement becomes ‘officially official,’ I wonder if we’ll get some anonymous quotes from the family. ESPN’s Pablo Torre has already teased that he’s still working on this story, and it seems he has some excellent sources. Speaking of Pablo…

On Friday morning, he did a deep dive into how the infamous “ring camera photo” of Belichick got out. It turns out he and Jordon stayed in an Airbnb for a night. They rented it for four nights but only stayed for one…weird—some wild quotes and details here.

So, apologies to commenter Dan, but at least I used more pictures and fewer words on Bill and Jordon this week.

As a subscriber, I always welcome your feedback on the comments…even if you tell me to shut up about The Belichicks.

Meanwhile, I read Bill Belichick’s new book. The Preakness winner was awesome. Tom Brady reportedly wants to be an Olympian. And some interesting Boston sports radio ratings…at least to me.

All ahead in today’s Four-Pack.

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On a review of Bill Belichick’s Art of Winning…

From the back jacket lining of the Art of Winning

It occurs to me that I don’t really know how to write a book review. So after reading Bill Belichick’s The Art of Winning - Lessons from my Life in Football, here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly, from one reader’s perspective.

The Good
🏈 It’s an easy read. Like, if you brought it to the Cape or Maine as part of a week-long summer vacation, you could easily finish it.

🏈 There are some good stories in there. Antonio Brown buying Tom Brady “magic milk” that gets spoiled. Julien Edelman working outside the team hotel at 6 a.m. on a drill related to his ridiculous catch in the 2017 Super Bowl. Brady embarassing him in a one-on-one meeting because he was more prepared than Belichick was. Or Brady and the team stranded in Rochester, NY, the day after Christmas. This book has some of those—not a lot, but some.

🏈 He goes out of his way to give most of the credit to his players - there is no tone of “I was the reason for all of the Patriots’ success.” And he heaps praise on his own father, which is nice.

🏈 I like a good motivational quote or nugget. So lines from Belichick like, “Practice execution becomes game reality,” or “A setback is like seeing a brand-new horizon of work that you failed to comprehend even existed. Now it's time to get there, faster,”…yeah I’m a sucker for those. If you like those, you’ll like this book.

🏈 I think if you’re a coach, this book could help get insight into how the greatest coach of all time handled basic team situations. Yeah, coaches will like this

The Bad

🏈 BUT…If you’re just a Pats fan who cares about the team and doesn't have any interest in chapters like “Roster construction,” “Moving On,” or “Culture,” this will not be the book for you. There are good stories, but many of them have already been told to most die-hard fans of the team.

🏈 The connections from football to ‘the real world’ are clunky and sometimes non-existent. I’m sure the publisher wanted this to be something he could sell to corporations and get Belichick some speaking engagements, but I don’t know if it will translate.

🏈 I like the self-help stuff and motivational quotes. If you don’t, you won’t like this book very much.

The Ugly

🏈 This is not a tell-all book. You’re not getting anything about the Brady/Belichick contract negotiations. Or drafting Jimmy G to replace Brady eventually. Or Malcom Butler’s benching in the Super Bowl. Yes, there’s a chapter called “Mistakes,” but Bill is not admitting to any real big ones here.

🏈 I get it, he hates Bob Kraft. Given the last 24 months or so, maybe he has a right to. But in this book, Belichick praises Jerry and Stephen Jones for their stewardship as the owners of the Dallas Cowboys. He mocks “The Patriot Way,” saying it does not exist. “Somewhere, someone came up with the phrase ‘the Patriot Way.’ I think they made some money off it. Good for them.” Of course, Bill knows the Krafts trademarked that phrase, and he’s mocking them for it here. In the acknowledgements, Bill thanks horse owner Sol Kumin, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, and about 300 other people - no mention of Kraft. Fair or not, that’s ugly.

So, I don’t know who this book is exactly for. Maybe that’s the thing—this book is for Bill and his own legacy. He’s been part of good books before. Patriot Reign by Michael Holley is a good book, and The Education of a Coach by David Halberstam is excellent. Both involved Belichick to some extent.

This…is not a very good book.

If you’re a coach or like the self-help/motivational stuff, borderline C+. If that’s not your thing, C- for sure. For most, maybe somewhere in between.

Also, bonus points for me for not mentioning that on page 19, Bill writes, “There are no guests in your hotel room…that goes for training camp, regular-season road trips and certainly the Super Bowl…” and then follow that up by pointing out that there are reports that Jordon was in Germany with Bill in November 2023—full credit to me for not including that in the review.

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On a MutStack recap of the 2025 Preakness…

The winner, Journalism, was awesome, but some of the numbers after the race were not. I turned on the camera in MutStack Studios to discuss.

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On Tom Brady’s return to football…

I gotta admit, I kinda believed this was NFL-related for a second. From the Daily Mail story that accompanies the headline -

…Brady, who will be the ripe old age of 50 when the games begin, wants to be the quarterback to lead Team USA to glory, a source has exclusively revealed to Daily Mail.

'He wants a Gold medal. And what better way to remain the GOAT [greatest of all time] and return to the sport he loves, by helping his country win gold,' an insider said.

'He knows he would be able to help and excel in that environment and since his life is very much scheduled and has a tight regimen, so many things could fall into place for him around that time.

In my mind, I have already spent the $200 on the Tom Brady #12 Team USA flag football jersey.

Team USA will cruise to a Gold Medal in flag football, assuming even a few high-level NFL stars play. That path became clearer when the league voted this week to allow players to represent the country in 2028, when the United States hosts the summer games and flag football is included for the first time.

The league’s top receiver, Justin Jefferson, seems interested. “Just to think about the chances of playing in the Olympics and getting a gold medal, it’s a dream.”

Each country can roster just one player from any one NFL team, so Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase could not both play for Team USA. With that NFL participation, the USA should dominate. There will be plenty of time for debate about whether or not an NFL player should risk injury and play, how the roster will be decided, etc.

About Brady playing—quarterbacks can’t run in flag football. Well, they can, but only after first handing the ball off. A mobile quarterback is a weapon, but you don’t need one. But they’re probably preferred over the pocket passes that will be Brady.

Besides the fact that he’ll be 50 in 2028, Brady's potential issue will be the roster size. Each team will have 12 players for the 5 v. 5 games. Some players will end up playing offense and defense. Brady will not be one of those players, and his roster spot would only be good for his play at quarterback. Do you want to burn one of twelve roster spots on a quarterback?

Also…is he still good at 50? Would he start? Is there a role for him as a situational quarterback who plays in plays around the goal line, in the “no-run zone,” where the offense can’t run the ball (inside the 5-yard line) but the defense can’t rush the passer?

Because he’s retired, he’ll have more time to focus on playing for the team and helping build out the offense, which is probably a plus. But there are some football hurdles for Brady, I get it.

But from a marketing standpoint? Holy shit. NBC must be salivating over this; they have the TV rights to the games, and Brady's involvement would be massive…from being a torch bearer to being featured in commercials to throwing a touchdown to Jefferson, Chase, or Brock Bowers…all big for NBC.

And how about Fanatics, which I believe handles the Team USA apparel? All those Brady Team USA jerseys, purchased by washed-up dudes like me. They would make millions on a Brady USA jersey alone.

So yeah, I’m rooting for Brady to be on Team USA, age be damned. As a dad and coach, I have enjoyed flag football as an alternative to Pop Warner for our boys. Girls’ flag football has rapidly gained popularity, being sanctioned by 11 states nationwide. The MIAA was criticized for not sanctioning it here in Massachusetts this spring, and you can expect another push later this year to try and get it launched for 2026 or 2027.

In 2028, there’ll be a Gold Medal on the line. And hopefully, TB12 is part of the team that takes it home for the United States. And hopefully, I get my hands on one of those Brady Team USA jerseys.

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On your MutStack Notebook…

Yes, this section was formerly titled ‘Sports media and sports betting notebook,’ and that will still be the focus. But if I want to link to a two-minute clip of me playing terrible basketball, rant about coaching youth sports, or rank the top Morgan Wallen songs on his new 37-track album, I want a space to do it here in the Four-Pack. Hence, the name change.

➡️ Some interesting trends are happening with Boston's two sports radio stations. They might mean nothing, but since this newsletter is one of the only places consistently reporting and commenting on the numbers, I wanted to mention this.

The power demo for sports radio is Men 25- 54 years of age. A much more basic metric is “All persons, 6+.” It’s not as important to advertisers but can be useful when looking at trends.

Last April, 98.5 The Sports Hub was #1, Persons 6+, with a 10.1 rating. April was their fourth straight month at No. 1 in Boston. Sports Radio WEEI was #10 with a 3.9 rating.

This April, 98.5 The Sports Hub came in at #6 with a 5.2 rating - essentially half of what it was a year ago. WEEI was a few back at #9, but just a half-point back overall—again Persons 6+—with a 4.7.

In that same metric, WEEI is UP 38% from its December rating of 3.7, while 98.5 The Sports Hub is DOWN 36% from its 8.2 in December, based on publicly available numbers.

Significant? I don’t know, I’ll need to see the Men25-54 numbers, and I’m working on getting those. Maybe these raw numbers being down are tied to the Bruins being bad? Or the Celtics having a playoff spot locked up? Or is my friend Kirk Minihane right, and the over-the-top negativity of shows like Felger and Mazz finally wearing on the audience? Being down 50% year-over-year is noteworthy in any metric,

I don’t remember them being this close in years, even in a ‘Persons 6+’ monthly, so I wanted to note it here and will try to get more information in the next few weeks.

➡️ 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Michael Felger went viral this week after criticizing Red Sox manager Alex Cora for missing a game to spend time at his daughter’s college graduation. Felger has played this card before, and Mike Francesa played it before that. In a season of 162 games, I don’t think more than 3% of fans agree with Felger’s take. Unfortunately, three of those were all in the Sports Hub studios as Felger, Mazz, and Jim Murray refuse to really disagree on anything. Ever. (Thanks to Boston Media Critic for the clip)

➡️ An ironic note - I’m told Mazz missed his “Baseball Show” shift on Thursday night, reportedly thanks to attending a family event.

➡️ Former WEEI host Marc James had to apologize on his show Thursday for mocking the Australian accent of Seattle Mariners’ announcer Ryan Rowland-Smith. James mocked the accent, the way the announcer pronounces “fastball,” and somehow compared it to actress Scarlett Johansson having a mustache. You can hear the rant here. Rowland-Smith is not some random Australian announcer - he played five years in MLB.

“This is not indicative of the type of human being that I am. So I ask you, Seattle, to give me a chance and hopefully, in time, I will earn your trust and you will forgive me,” said James in his apology on Thursday.

James just got the new radio gig in Seattle back in February and is already taking heat there locally. I 100% do not think James should lose his job over this, but it was a weird rant and analogy.

➡️ Felger and Mazz nailed one thing this week - the lack of follow-up on the Celtics’ collapse is wild. I know Tatum got hurt, but the upset to the Knicks is being treated like no big deal. The coach cost the team two games in the playoffs, and fans (and media) have already moved on.

➡️ Big congrats to former Mut at Night producer Lucy Burdge for landing a partnership deal with DraftKings. She had been with WEEI's parent company, Audacy, before being let go back in March. Lucy’s social media posts about sports betting consistently were the most viewed of anyone on the Audacy sports betting staff, and it was only a matter of time before DK or FanDuel came calling.

➡️ Big thumbs up to DK Horse for their Preakness Promo. Anyone who bet at least $5 to win on Journalism won an additional $41 as part of that promo, which split $150k among all those who opted in and bet on the winner. If you just bet $5 on him at 1-1, you got $51 back with the promo. Good deal.

➡️ Today is the final show for Around the Horn on ESPN. People seem sad about it, but for me, it was always just the show on before PTI and never as impactful or worth watching.

And with that, we have said it all.

Hope you have a great and safe Memorial Day weekend. Thanks for reading…and watching.