NFL analyst calls Bill Belichick’s controversial “Snapface” and “Instaface” ignorance an intentionally misleading act
Bill Belichick has built a reputation for anything but ignorance on the football field. However, he has been quick to express no knowledge or desire to learn about anything on social media. For decades, Belichick would notoriously get the names of social media platforms ("Instaface" and "Snapface") wrong when speaking about them.
Many analysts have taken his lack of knowledge at face value. However, one analyst believes the lack of knowledge is merely an act designed to manipulate people.
"This is the guy who has feigned lack of awareness of social media forever, and I don't believe it," Mike Florio said.
"There's no way if you're a football coach who prides yourself on knowing everything right, that you completely shut out a very valuable and useful vehicle for finding stuff out about your players, about other players, about other coaches, about anything," he said. [0:55 PFT].
Florio indicated that it was a strategic football move to make others think he didn't know about social media. However, there is one other big reason why he may not have wished to get on the various platforms over the years.
With a new public way to receive messages, fans and the media would most likely have blown up his inbox, creating additional potential headaches. By pretending not to know anything about it, he created a defense against this.
Bill Belichick surrenders to social media after decades of resistance
While social media came into its earliest somewhat modern form in the early 2000s, Bill Belichick was winning championships. However, during the entire Tom Brady era, Belichick resisted the growing fad-turned-trend-turned way of life.
That said, the 72-year-old former New England Patriots head coach finally has bit the bullet.
Taking to Instagram, Belichick announced his first public social media page. Currently, the head coach has just three posts. However, he has racked up more than a quarter of a million followers.
"I am (surprisingly) thrilled to announce my decision to utilize social media platforms with the intention of connecting directly with fans and the public," Belichick posted.
He went on to ask people to follow his "InstaFace."
One can argue that Bill Belichick's new career in the media had some level of instigation of this. With his face, knowledge, and ideas getting plastered across various shows and platforms, adding a social media profile to the mix seems like a prerequisite.
Will Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski's former coach continue to utilize the platform as time continues or will he let it gather dust?
If any of the above quotes are used, credit "Pro Football Talk" and H/T Sportskeeda.