‘DECISION HAS BEEN MADE’

Patriots’ Bill Belichick Turns Down Trump’s Medal of Freedom Offer

“The tragic events of last week occurred and the decision has been made not to move forward with the award,” Belichick wrote in a statement.

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick will not accept President Trump’s award of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, he announced in a statement Monday. The statement, first announced by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, comes after media reports on Sunday that Trump had invited the six-time Super Bowl winner to the White House to receive the nation’s highest civilian honor. “The tragic events of last week occurred and the decision has been made not to move forward with the award,” Belichick wrote in the statement. The coach and the president are longtime friends, with the former writing a congratulatory note to the latter after his 2016 election. Belichick’s public break with Trump comes on the heels of several companies freezing the president out after he helped incite a riot in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.