About a week and a half ago, I heard two sports talk radio hosts discussing the topic of renaming some of the top trophies in sports, including those on the professional level, so as to connect their worth to people who are more modern.

 

They finally got around to the NFL and, with Super Bowl LI just a few days away, it was offered that the Vince Lombardi Trophy should someday soon be renamed the Bill Belichick Trophy.

 

The Bill Belichick Trophy?

 

Hmmm.

 

For starters, the trophy should never have been named for Lombardi in the first place. While he was a great coach, his tenure was only a decade. But more importantly, Lombardi’s contributions to the modern game are virtually non-existent. They pale in comparison to those of former Browns head coach Paul Brown, who has been called by many “The Father of Modern Football” for the numerous innovations and advancements he brought to the game.

 

But if they’re not going to name it for the right legend in Brown, then I agree with the sports talkers that they should indeed rename the trophy for Belichick. The case for such was helped immeasurably when Belichick won his fifth Super Bowl title in a decade and a half in New England with a 34-28 victory over the Atlanta Falcons last Sunday evening after a comeback for the ages.

 

With free agency and the salary cap, and with so many more teams than years ago, it is harder now to win a championship than it has ever been before. But that hasn’t stopped Belichick one bit from dominating the game like no coach has in the Super Bowl era.

 

Renaming the Super Bowl trophy for Belichick would have seemed ludicrous when he finished his five-year stay in Cleveland following the 1995 season. While he was certainly not nearly as bad with the Browns as many believe, he still made the playoffs just one time, had only one postseason win and posted but one winning season.

 

But all kinds of people, including football coaches, can learn and change, and Belichick has definitely done that better than anyone in NFL history. If nothing else, that shining example of what we can do in our own lives when we finally quit being stubborn, is reason enough to rename the trophy for the head coach of the Patriots in the not-too-distant future.