After Las Vegas beat New England on Sunday, Adam Butler was hoping to have a brief postgame chat with Patriots coach Bill Belichick. The Raiders defensive tackle spent the first four seasons of his career in New England, so he wanted to make sure to at least shake hands with his former coach after the game, but that didn't happen.
Following the Patriots' 21-17 loss, Belichick didn't stick around very long to shake hands with anyone. Butler was asked about the situation after the game and he definitely didn't sound happy with Belichick's actions.
"It did make me very upset that Bill didn't even have the respect for me to say anything after the game," Butler said, via CBS 8 in Las Vegas. "Not even congratulate me, tell me 'You look good,' or 'You don't look good,' whatever, 'Kiss my a--,' something. He didn't say anything. Kind of felt disrespected, made me feel kind of bad."
The loss to the Raiders dropped the Patriots to 1-5 on the season, so Butler understands why Belichick didn't stick around for long, but he still would have liked to at least get a wave.
"I know Coach Belichick has bigger things to worry about, obviously," Butler said. "They're going through a tough time, but I mean geez, wave, something, but nothing."
In Belichick's defense, he might have been on the field for hours following the game if he had stuck around to chat with every former Patriots player on the Vegas roster. The Raiders are basically Patriots-west, starting at the top. The team's general manager, Dave Ziegler, came from New England. And let's not forget about Josh McDaniels, who was Belichick's long-time offensive coordinator (Those two actually chatted some before the game).
The two Head Coaches - Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels meet at the 50 yard line. #NEvsLV @wbz pic.twitter.com/hxcqCdL0c8
— Dan Roche (@RochieWBZ) October 15, 2023
McDaniels and Ziegler have brought several former Patriots players to Las Vegas, including both quarterbacks -- Jimmy Garoppolo and Brian Hoyer -- who played on Sunday. Former Patriots receiver Jakobi Meyers also saw some action in the game and he actually played a key role for the Raiders, catching a 12-yard touchdown pass in the first half.
As for other former Patriots on the Raiders' roster, there's also DeAndre Carter, Brandon Bolden, Justin Herron, Jakob Johnson and Jermaine Eluemunor.
Basically, it's easy to understand why Butler is upset that his former coach didn't give him a handshake after the game, but it's also easy to understand why Belichick chose not to stick around. After the loss, he probably wasn't in the mood to chat with every former player that was in the building.
