There was no Christmas cheer shared between theNew England Patriotsand Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.
As Minnesota hurried to get another play off before New England could dispute the ruling, Pats safety Patrick Chung suddenly (and conveniently) fell to the field with an injury, which stopped the clock and gave coach Bill Belichick enough time to challenge the conversion.
While Belichick is known for being reserved when it comes to displays of emotion, Belichick looked Thielen dead in the eye and shouted, “Shut the f— up!” in full view of FOX Sports cameras.
While the fourth-down conversion would be held up after the challenge, it wouldn’t matter in the end, as the Pats would go on to win the game 24-10.
“I just thought the play was cheap,” Thielen told reporters after the game, according toNBC Sports.
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“I let my emotions get the best of me because it’s a smart football play,” Thielen, 28, said. “If you are in that situation, why not? It’s not cheating, because there’s no rule against from a guy going down. I don’t know if he was hurt or not — he might have been hurt. That’s fine, it is what it is. Just interesting timing for a guy to go down when it’s a close play.”
When asked about Belichick yelling back at him, Thielen said he simply took it in stride.
“No offense taken,” he replied. “It’s football. There’s emotions.”
In a post-game press conference, Belichick agreed with a reporter who suggested the argument was nothing but a friendly “holiday greeting.”
The whole exchange was humorous for New England quarterbackTom Brady, who says he has been on the receiving end of Belichick’s wrath.
“I’ve been on the other end of that a few times in my career,” Brady toldWEEI. “Pretty funny… It’s competitive out there. It’s very feisty and everyone’s emotions are on their sleeves. You say something and there is just an emotional reaction. That was pretty funny.”
source: people.com
