Bill Belichick's Personal Life Sounds Better Than the Reality
The allure of cool fades when you're old
Most middle aged married men, whether they admit it or not, like the notion of “dating” a woman in her 20s. The issue, of course, with upending your life towards this end, is that some fantasies are better left fantasies. I’m reminded of the viral Twitter thread about Dell Curry getting a divorce from his beautiful then wife Sonya:
Bill Belichick, as you may have heard, has a 24 year old girlfriend named Jordon Hudson. That’s theoretically just the business of the 73 year-old now University of North Carolina head coach, except it would appear that Jordon has some influence over someone who has quite a bit of influence. The public depiction of their relationship was mostly lighter fare until an especially awkward interview with CBS Sunday Mornings transpired over the weekend.
Hudson was reportedly a “constant presence” in this interview that Belichick wanted to serve as publicity for his upcoming book. When CBS interviewer Tony Dokoupil asked Belichick how he met his girlfriend, Hudson interjected from the producer’s table “We’re not talking about this.” The entire situation, altogether, was uncomfortable. Something just isn’t right about what’s happening even if nobody can quite articulate exactly what’s wrong.
Hudson is involved in negotiations with NFL Films. Hudson identifies herself on emails as the chief operating officer of Belichick Productions. She is copied on emails with UNC over matters of business. She is amassing quite the real estate portfolio.
In the wake of this CBS interview, Belichick, or least I’ll assume it’s Belichick, released a statement to the media.
I agreed to speak with ‘CBS Sunday Morning’ to promote my new book, ‘The Art of Winning – Lessons from My Life in Football.’ Prior to this interview, I clearly communicated with my publicist at Simon & Schuster that any promotional interviews I participated in would agree to focus solely on the contents of the book. Unfortunately, that expectation was not honored during the interview. I was surprised when unrelated topics were introduced, and I repeatedly expressed to the reporter, Tony Dokoupil, and the producers that I preferred to keep the conversation centered on the book.
CBS News released a statement claiming that it was to be a wide ranging discussion with “no preconditions” on the interview.
In theory, an old rich guy dating an attractive 24 year old can be received with, “If it makes him happy,” or, “Way to go, Bill!” In practice, shown to the world in full, a near five decade age gap relationship is perhaps less fun to consider.
In modern society, nobody wants to be “judgmental,” but that position can come at the expense of “discerning.” Yes, there are bitter people who’ll bring their baggage over lost youth or financial jealousy to a famous person’s relationship that doesn’t concern them. Yes, an “age gap” between consenting adults isn’t a matter of public morality, prima facie. At the same time, norms exist for reasons, and your impulse to be skeptical of a 24 year-old acting as sudden life partner to a 73 year-old isn’t rooted in superstitious Puritanism. Odds are, this won’t end well. We all know it, even if it isn’t cool to say so until shit hits the fan.
The Time I Got High With Don Nelson
One of the superficially coolest stories from my life wasn’t actually great to experience. I once got really high with Don Nelson at his house in Maui.