Published: May 02, 2008 10:04 am            

Who said Bill Belichick was perfect?

SALEM, Mass. — Patriots coach Bill Belichick may be a football genius but, in other ways, he's as mortal as the rest of us.



Take a little thing like sense of direction.



The man who guided the New England Patriots to three Super Bowl championships couldn't find his way to nearby Salem, Mass., on Wednesday night.



Belichick wanted to drive himself here for his speech at Salem State College. That seemed like a good idea until game time approached and the guest of honor was nowhere in sight.



Around 5:30 p.m., Mr. Super Bowl was driving through Peabody in his Toyota RAV4 looking more confused than the Pittsburgh Steelers trying to crack the New England defense. The pride of Patriot Nation even had a playbook — the college sent him directions — but that didn't seem to help.



It's possible Belichick fell victim to overconfidence — something he constantly warns his players about. He used to live in Andover and may have thought he knew the North Shore.



Finally, as precious seconds ticked off the clock, he got on the cell phone with his assistant, who was at the Hawthorne Hotel waiting for his boss to arrive for a pre-lecture dinner with Salem State donors and officials.



Can you picture the scene? It was almost like game day when the coach is on the field with a headset talking to assistant coaches in a booth upstairs. Or maybe it was like those old movies where the pilot collapses and the passenger, sweating profusely, has to fly the plane and is guided safely down by an air traffic controller.



Anyway, with an assistant giving instructions through the cell phone, Belichick came down Boston Street, turned left on Essex Street and headed into the downtown — where, like the rest of us, he got really lost. That's when a college staff member started calling signals. Belichick was told to take a left at the Dunkin' Donuts and a left at the base of Hawthorne Boulevard. Finally, he arrived safely — to everyone's great relief.



Let's hope this isn't an omen for next season.





Tom Dalton and Chris Cassidy write for The Salem (Mass.) News.

        

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