Bill Belichick rejects Medal of Freedom from Donald Trump

  • by Cecil Buchanan
  • in Sports
  • — Jan 13, 2021
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Bill Belichick received mostly praise on social media for his decision to reject President Trump's offer to award him the Presidential Medal of Freedom - the highest civilian honor in the U.S.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick will not travel to Washington, nor will he accept the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Donald Trump.

In the statement issued Monday night, Belichick said he was "flattered" by the invitation out of respect for what the honor represents. But this season the Patriots posted a 7-9 win-loss record without star quarterback Tom Brady, who is gunning for a seventh win with his new team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The coach stated, "Above all, I am an American citizen", and he referenced 2020 conversations with his players about "social justice, equality and human rights".

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"Remaining true to the people, team and country I love outweigh the benefits of any individual award", he wrote in the statement.

"This president has made a mockery of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. look at who he has given it to in the last weeks: people like Devin Nunes and Jim Jordan". His grandfather, Ivan Biličić, and grandmother, Marija Barković, emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1897 from Draganić.

The news was met with criticism in the aftermath of last week's attack on the US Capitol by a pro-Trump mob. The day after last week's violence, he gave the award to golfers Annika Sorenstam, Gary Player and the late Babe Zaharias. The group marched down to Capitol at his urging and broke into the building by force.

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Mr Trump will leave office on January 20, with Joe Biden to be inaugurated as the next president. House Democrats want to impeach Trump, accusing him of "incitement of insurrection". He has led the Patriots to six Super Bowl championships, joining George Halas and Curly Lambeau as the only coaches with six championships since the league began postseason play in 1933.

It was reported Sunday that President Donald Trump meant to bestow the highest civilian honor in the United States to Belichick on Thursday. Team owner Robert Kraft had a Super Bowl ring made for Trump.

The White House was not immediately available for comment.

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