New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick said in a statement Monday that he had turned down the opportunity to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Trump because of the “tragic events of last week,” a reference to the insurrection at the Capitol.
In a statement, Belichick said he was flattered to be nominated for the award, the highest civilian honor in the country, because of its past recipients. But he said he has great reverence for “our nation’s values,” represents his family and the Patriots, and has worked with players to combat social injustice.
“Continuing those efforts while remaining true to the people, team and country that I love outweigh the benefits of any individual award,” he wrote in a statement.
There had been calls for Belichick to decline the award, including on Monday from Representative Jim McGovern, Democrat from Massachusetts, who called accepting the award “disgraceful.”
“Bill Belichick should do the right thing and say, ‘No thanks,’” he told CNN.
Mr. Trump, who leaves office in less than two weeks, has been long been associated with the Patriots. Before he was elected in 2016, he regularly attended the team’s home games as a guest of Robert K. Kraft, the Patriots’ owner. Belichick publicly supported the president when he ran for office, and even wrote a letter to the president, who read it aloud at a campaign rally just before Election Day. The team’s former quarterback, Tom Brady, played golf with Trump and had a campaign cap in his locker.
But Trump’s divisiveness has repeatedly put the Patriots in an awkward position, particularly in 2017, when the president repeatedly criticized the N.F.L. and its owners for not firing players who knelt during the playing of the national anthem to protest social injustice and police brutality.
The team accepted an invitation to visit the White House in 2017 after winning the Super Bowl, but before the president attacked the league. Two years later, after the Patriots won another title and many players publicly opposed the president, they did not make the trip to Washington because of what they said were scheduling conflicts.
The team did not respond to a request seeking comment.
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