Belichick walking off with time on the clock

[JoeRedskin]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

I don't think it's a huge deal really, he did stop and shake hands with and congratulate Coughlin and the Giants before he left the field.

That's how Belichick is, we shouldn't expect him to change

I saw the hand shake and walk off. While I agree that he did shake hands and clearly offered words to Coughlin, my gut feeling is that it was poor sportsmanship. Was it the worst I've ever seen? Nope. Was it consistent with his apparent attitude towards winning and losing? Yup. Does either of those make it the right thing to do? Nope.

It was a meaningless second. He (as anyone would) wanted to get out of there. Do either of those reasons excuse a coach from leaving before his team is off the field? IMHO, no. You're the boss (as he has so evidently made clear in the past). You wait until the game is over and head out. (No need to shake hands a second time). Otherwise, you're just leaving your players out there to face the celebrations alone.

Many a coach stood there for meaningless minutes while your team played its starters with the game's outcome settled - You can man up and wait one second for the game to end.

Belichick is a great coach, but that doesn't mean he should be or is excused from being a poor sport.