Pat Patriot
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- Mar 19, 2019
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To commemorate the league’s 100th season, the NFL will be naming the top 100 players of all time, but not in any specific order.
Incoming Hall of Famer Gil Brandt disclosed some of the names of the people who served on the panel, which convened last year for a full-day meeting and also had a separate two-hour session.
Via Ben Volin of the Boston Globe, the panel included the likes of Tony Dungy, John Madden, Art Shell, Dick Vermeil, Rick Gosselin, and others. The only active coach was Bill Belichick.
Belichick, according to Brandt, argued passionately for Clark Hinkle, a two-way Packers player in the 1930s, who entered the Hall of Fame in 1964.
“He’s amazing as far as he can tell you about coaches and players back in the ’30s and ’40s without any problem at all,” Brandt told Volin, regarding Belichick. “And I mean, he can tell you Clarke Hinkle, what he did, how he was a fullback but when they were going to pass they moved him to tailback. This guy studied like it was for a math test. He was brilliant.”
Belichick was brilliant because he is brilliant. Interpersonal quirks aside, Belichick may be the smartest person to ever coach any sport in American history. And if/when someone will be picking the greatest NFL coaches of all time as part of the league’s 100th season, Belichick should be at the very top of the list.