Despite Toasting Together, Bill Belichick’s Fractured Robert Kraft Relationship Likened to Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson’s ‘Cold War’

Tom Brady’s roast turned out to be a polarizing one. Not only the opinions about Tom Brady, but Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft’s discourse was made public once again. At some point during the roast, the hosts of the show tried to resolve things between the two and asked them to toast together. Belichick agreed, Robert Kraft said a few words, but we didn’t see the coach drinking the toast.

This became another controversial thing after The Dynasty documentary and is drawing parallels to the beef that Jerry Jones had with Jimmy Johnson, who served as the Cowboys‘ HC for about 6 years and got them two consecutive Super Bowl victories. Rich Eisen with Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated picked up on the conversation in the latest edition of his show.

Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick doing a shot might have been a “too soon” moment

The moment shared by the owner of the Patriots and ex-coach of the team might have been a “too soon” event. At least that’s what Rich Eisen thought of the situation as he watched it happen in front of him at the Kia Forum. Kevin Hart tried to facilitate the patch and Robert Kraft was all in on it. He went on the stage and said, “I want to say this is the greatest coach in the history of the game that no one else has done,” and added, “And having Tom Brady and him was the greatest honor the good lord gave me, so cheers!”

While Belichick looked content on the stage, he didn’t take the shot and the camera shifted focus. Per Albert Breer of SI, there were two main reasons behind the 8x Super Bowl-winning coach’s behavior. “Number one, he did not like the Apple TV documentary, and number two, this relationship with Kraft seems to have taken on a Jerry-Jimmy dynamic where sometimes they can be polite for the cameras but there’s still a lot of, a lot of feelings there,” said Albert Breer to Rich Eisen.

Even Kraft made it clear, though jokingly when he said, “like all family reunions, there are some people you just don’t want to run into,” pointing out that he was uncomfortable with his reunion with Belichick. The Patriots documentary shifted all the blame on Bill Belichick and hid all of the positive things about him, things that make him one of the greatest coaches in the NFL history. It was reminiscent of Michael Jordan’s “The Last Dance,” but in reverse where everything about Belichick was bad and the positive opinions of his peers didn’t matter.

Also, Brady and Belichick’s relationship became saturated by the time Tom Brady was about to leave the team. It was pointed out that Robert Kraft reportedly called up Falcons’ owner Arthur Blank and badmouthed Belichick and told Blank not to hire him. However, Breer might have been right in comparing Kraft-Belichick with the relationship between Jones and Johnson.

Does Jerry Jones not like Jimmy Johnson?

Things weren’t the same for the Dallas Cowboys after Jerry Jones fired the coach who got them two Super Bowl Championships in the 90’s. During the peak of the Dallas Cowboys, there was a discourse between the owner and the HC where Jones wanted to take the role of more of a hybrid owner, seeing to decision making and even coaching. But that didn’t sit well with Johnson.

After Johnson left the team, Jones hired Barry Switzer to take on the coaching reins. Switzer helped the Cowboys with a Super Bowl win and 3 playoff appearances but left shortly after. This left the Cowboys with one of the biggest post-season droughts and they haven’t recovered from it in three years.

Jerry Jones took the blame of letting Johnson go upon himself as he told the Texas A&M Radio Station KTCK, “I lost my tolerance for a lot of things. I probably should have had a little more tolerance with Jimmy Johnson. Seriously.”

The Cowboys still hadn’t inducted coach Johnson into Dallas’ ring of honor several years after his exit, a ceremony to appall those who have done excellent in the field of football. However, Johnson finally got the spot and the Cowboys gave him a ring of honor after 3 odd decades.

Hopefully, this situation can be a lesson to Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft and they squash their beef and bury the hatchet.