The Patriots Should Name Their Field After Bill Belichick

Bill Belichick is an all-time great coach and a surefire Pro Football Hall of Famer. After leading New England to a ninth AFC Championship as the Patriots head coach on Sunday, there's certainly some argument to be made for Bill Belichick as the greatest coach in the history of the NFL. Some have advocated for naming the Vince Lombardi Trophy after the elder statesman of pro football coaching, but I'm going to suggest something different: the New England Patriots organization should name the field at Gillette Stadium after Belichick.

I love some of the other ideas I've seen about honoring Belichick for his success, such as naming a wing in the Hall of Fame after him. He's an historic figure, and what better way to pay tribute to the man than by naming part of the complex that serves as the foremost vault to the history of the game after him? The Hall of Fame, though, sees under a quarter of a million visitors each year, while tens of millions watched the AFC Championship Game this past Sunday alone. Putting Belichick's name on the field would get it in front of millions and would help give more people a sense of his greatness, though there aren't any rules that say he can't have his name on both the field and the Hall of Fame.

Then there's the renaming of the Vince Lombardi Trophy. In theory, it's a great idea. Belichick's Patriots have won the Super Bowl five times with him at the helm, more than any other coach in league history, and have a chance for number six early next month. There's just one problem: the trophy is already named after someone. The late Vince Lombardi, who is already enshrined in Canton, has had his name on the trophy for nearly 50 years. Renaming it after Belichick, while certainly an appropriate honor for the long-time New England coach, would be an insult to Lombardi's memory, not to mention those members of his family who, I'm sure, hold his achievements in the highest regard.

Imagine instead Jim Nantz on a crisp October Sunday saying, "Hello friends, and welcome to Bill Belichick Field at Gillette Stadium." Then Al Michaels could say the same thing in November, before Joe Tessitore takes us home in late December, not to mention the cries of joy from the announcers in January when the Patriots grab home-field advantage. It makes his name more accessible to casual fans, and to greater numbers of fans, and I'd advocate for it as the number one option when it comes to honoring the all-time great head coach Bill Belichick.

Notes:

1 - Idea of naming a wing in the Pro Football Hall of Fame came from a Twitter poll. I will update with the specific poll if I can find it.
2 - Statistic on number of visitors to the Pro Football Hall of Fame came from the following New York Times article: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/28/sports/pro-football-hall-of-fame-canton-ohio.html
3 - Statistics on number of viewers for the championship games came from deadline.com: https://deadline.com/2019/01/rams-patriots-nfl-championship-game-ratings-rise-1202538653/
4 - Statistic on how long the Vince Lombardi Trophy has been named, well, the Vince Lombardi Trophy is from Sports Illustrated: https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/02/04/who-makes-vince-lombardi-trophy-super-bowl