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          Bill Belichick: 'Had a couple of long answers ... usually a problem with me'

          • Mike Reiss, ESPN Staff WriterOct 21, 2016, 11:00 AM ET
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              Mike Reiss is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the New England Patriots. Reiss has covered the Patriots since 1997 and joined ESPN in 2009. In 2019, he was named Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. You can follow Reiss on Twitter at @MikeReiss.
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          FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- An unusually upbeat Bill Belichick extended his early Friday morning news conference in a rare move.

          Here is how it unfolded:

          After 15 minutes, Patriots director of media relations Aaron Salkin, mindful of Belichick's time commitments, said to the assembled media, "Let's take two more."

          Belichick had just concluded a lengthy answer on his background facing the Pittsburgh Steelers (this Sunday's opponent), which had him reflecting on the mid-1970s and the early part of his coaching career when the Steelers were beginning a dynastic NFL run.

          Belichick seemed to enjoy the trip down Memory Lane, because when the news conference was set to end after 21 minutes -- with Salkin saying "All right, guys" -- Belichick made like Vince Wilfork and wasn't moving off the spot.

          "I'll take a couple more if you want," Belichick said. "I know I had a couple of long answers there. You know that's usually a problem with me -- just going on and on and on."

          Belichick was then asked a question about safety Duron Harmon (a "silent leader"), which led him to share insight on something he learned from one of the all-time NBA greats.

          "Bill Russell taught me this," Belichick said. "In a way, a silent leader in some respects is more powerful than a more vocal leader. You hear the vocal guy, you're very aware of it, but then there are guys that give you that quiet leadership in a way that is more powerful because it's not quite out there as much. But it's that quiet push that sometimes can maybe have a little more impetus."

          Then Belichick embraced a query about scouting rookie linebacker Elandon Roberts -- "That's a great question", he said -- and how it had a unique dynamic because Roberts went from having just 17 tackles as a junior to leading the country as a senior.

          "I guess the one that sticks out the most from me would be Coach [Nick] Saban's story about [Jack] Lambert when he was at Kent State and how Lambert couldn't get on the field as a backup linebacker. The kid in front of him was really their leader, kind of the heart-and-soul of the Kent State defense. Through a series of circumstances -- that's a long story, but we'll skip through all that -- the kid dropped out of school and went to work for Mick Jagger; he was his security guy on tour with the Rolling Stones and Lambert became the starting middle linebacker. He probably would have never played had that not happened. And you have a Hall of Fame player.

          "Sometimes things take a turn, and once some players get that opportunity and they get in there -- the Tom Bradys of the world, or whoever -- you can't get them out of there. Lou Gehrig."

          Russell ... Lambert ... Jagger ... Brady .... Gehrig.

          Belichick just kept going and going and going.