Donald Trump and Bill Belichick are good friends, and in fact, the former Patriots coach interviewed the current President of the United States on his podcast when he was a candidate. Just as the president changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America,” the new coach of the University of North Carolina wants to do the same with the famous Super Bowl trophy.
Since 1970, starting with Super Bowl V, the NFL champion's trophy has been named after Vince Lombardi, in honor of the legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers who won the first two Super Bowls with his team.
The Vince Lombardi Trophy is created by Tiffany & Company and is awarded to the championship team every year. It is a regulation size American football, made of silver, on a pyramidal base with three concave sides. The trophy measures 20.75 inches high (52 cm) and weighs 107.3 ounces (3 kilograms).
Why does Belichick want to change the name of the Super Bowl trophy?
Belichick is one of the commentators on the podcast “Let’s Go”, along with Raiders player Maxx Crosby and renowned journalist Peter King. Indeed, the former coach replaced Tom Brady, who had to leave the show to focus on his duties as an analyst for FOX game broadcasts.
In the last program, the coach said that they should call it 'Brady Trophy'. He won seven of them. Players are the ones who win games and championships. You can't win games without good players.
Bill Belichick added, "No matter who the coach is, you can't win without good players. I realized that when I had Lawrence Taylor, Carl Banks, Harry Carson, all those guys on the Giants. The same in New England with Brady, Mike Vrabel, Tedy Bruschi, and more. They won the games, I didn't make any tackles."
The renowned 72-year-old coach won six Super Bowls as head coach of the Patriots, all of them with Tom Brady as quarterback, and also added two more rings with the New York Giants as defensive coordinator.
In 2020, Brady also won his seventh Super Bowl title with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Belichick was fired from the Patriots at the beginning of last year after 24 years as head coach and this year he will take on an unexpected challenge, as the head coach of the University of North Carolina football team.
Does Belichick's idea have options to prosper?
The Vince Lombardi Trophy name is one of the most famous in the sports world and therefore, Belichick's idea has very few chances of succeeding.
However, there are other alternatives. For example, three years ago the NBA renamed the trophy for the Eastern Conference champion as "Bob Cousy" and the one for the Western Conference as "Oscar Robertson". Additionally, the MVP of the Eastern Finals was named "Larry Bird" and the one for the Western Finals was named in honor of "Magic Johnson".