I had to laugh when I read a story the other day about former Browns head coach Bill belichick.

It seems, at least according to one anonymous general manager from the AFC, that the current longtime New England Patriots head coach made a trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the NFL draft last weekend with the sole intent of sticking it to the team he absolutely loathes, the New York Jets.

Belichick set his No. 14 overall pick to Pittsburgh, which put the Steelers one spot ahead of the Jets at No. 15 and allowed them to take the last big-time offensive off the board. The Jets apparently wanted to get that tackle, and Belichick knew it, but were blocked by Pittsburgh. In return, Belichick accepted less than he should have gotten in the trade just to tweak the Jets even more.

I laughed because it’s a funny story, and I also laughed that anyone would be shocked that Belichick could — or would — do something like this. Belichick has been doing stuff like this for years, and if he doesn’t like you, he will do it to you, your team or anyone else in the NFL who gets on his bad list. And the Jets for years have been on his bad list, right at the top all by themselves in fact.

It was evident during his time in Cleveland from 1991-95 that he very much liked or disliked certain individuals and teams. For whatever reason, he liked me and so I was never the object of any of this wrath. But there were members of the media he absolutely despised, and he did everything he could to derail their ability to report what was going on with the team.

The moral of the story? Don’t get on the bad list of one of the most powerful NFL coaches in the game today, and arguably the greatest pro football coach of all-time. If you do, then you will regret it for the rest of your life.

Steve King