NEW YORK (PIX11) -- As Bill Belichick says goodbye to the New England Patriots, the team he coached for 24 years and won six Super Bowl championships with, his history will always be tied to, in some ways, both New York teams.
The most infamous is Jan. 4, 2000. The day Belichick was hired for one day as head coach of the New York Jets before scribbling on a napkin that he was resigning as "HC of the NYJ" and instead taking the same position with the Patriots, a decision that is still shrouded in mystery.
Instead of seeing over two decades of sustained success and championship-level play from their own team, fans of Gang Green had to watch Belichick and Tom Brady orchestrate the NFL's greatest modern-day dynasty with their division rivals up north in New England.
Belichick never took it easy on the Jets either. He went 37-11 against the Jets during his tenure as Patriots head coach and was riding a 15-game winning streak versus New York before the Jets mercifully ended the streak this past Sunday with a 17-3 win in the season finale (Trevor Siemian being the quarterback that beat Belichick in his last game in New England will be a great trivia question one day).
Jets fans can hang their hat on potentially denying Belichick a 10th Super Bowl appearance when they beat the Patriots in the 2010 NFL divisional playoffs 28-21. It's a small consolation prize but one Jets fans will take considering they have not made the playoffs since.
The Giants meanwhile will remember Belichick for much different reasons. Belichick coached for more than one day with the G-Men. He served as the defensive coordinator for Big Blue from 1979 to 1990, winning two Super Bowls with the Giants alongside Bill Parcells in the 1986 and 1990 seasons, the former being the first in franchise history. He was instrumental in stopping the high-flying offense of John Elway and the Denver Broncos in that '86 Super Bowl as the Giants dominated that game 39-20 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
Two decades later, Belichick was on the other sideline when the Giants and Patriots squared off in the 2007 Super Bowl where Belichick and the Pats had the chance to pull off perhaps the greatest feat in all of team sports; an undefeated season.
There had been one before that, the Miami Dolphins finished the 1972 season with a Super Bowl victory and a perfect 17-0 record, but that was in a 14-game regular season. With the regular season now at 16 games, the Patriots came into that championship game at 18-0 trying to exceed Miami's record.
The Giants meanwhile, led by Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin, were a wild-card team on a miracle run to the Super Bowl. In a true David vs. Goliath matchup, the Giants pulled off what is widely considered the greatest upset in Super Bowl history, snatching perfection away from New England with a 17-14 win.
It was déjà vu in the 2011 season when Manning and the G-Men took the Patriots down again in Super Bowl XLVI 21-17. The Giants are responsible for two of Belichick's three Super Bowl losses with the Patriots.
Belichick is expected to coach again as he chases the record for most wins as a head coach. If you combine the regular season and playoffs, Belichick (333) trails Don Shula (347) by just 14 wins. But if this is the end, his tenure with New England will be remembered in New York for a long time, for good or for bad.
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