CHASKA, Minn. — In the middle of Davis Love III’s press conference this afternoon, I began to notice a strange, recurring theme: Bill Belichick. Odd as it sounds, Love had obviously become enamored of the grumpy, media-hating, rule-bending, gridiron genius who has won four Super Bowls as head coach of the New England Patriots.
The captain’s fascination appears to have started when he and Tom Lehman met Belichick at a charity gala the week of the Deutsche Bank earlier this month, followed by a team trip to the Patriots’ training facility the next day. Both outings gave Love an opportunity to “exchange ideas” with Belichick, and it obviously made a huge impact—cursory research shows that Love has now mentioned Belichick in four straight press conferences.
Let’s examine the transcripts.
1. Sept. 12: The First Captain’s Picks
Here, Love dropped the first hint that he had been in the great man’s presence:
DAVIS LOVE III: I’m not going to elaborate a whole lot on our …