Bill Belichick has never been a man of many words. But since leaving the NFL, and following the media firestorm that engulfed the football icon and his 24-year-old sweetheart Jordon Hudson, Belichick appears to be opening up some.

While promoting his book, “The Art of Winning” on “The Pivot Podcast” this summer, the first-year UNC coach recalled having to manage the relationship between Tom Brady, his Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback, who Belichick won six Super Bowls with in New England, and controversial wide receiver Antonio Brown, who arrived in 2019:

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Well, one of the funny stories in that book is the Antonio Brown story. He was only with the Patriots for 11 days. You know, Tom’s very nutrition-oriented, and you know, Antonio wanted to [repay Brady]. Tom had Antonio come and stay at his house, wanted to embrace him, bring him onto the team and so forth … [So] Antonio ordered this special milk for Brady. It cost $5,000.

To make a long story short, it kind of got mixed up and it ended up in the mailroom for too long and … the milk went bad. … I’m like, ‘Oh my God.’ So we go out and get $5,000 worth of this special milk and give it to Brady from Antonio. So now it turned into an expense report — $5,000 worth of milk. But, you know what, sometimes you’ve just got to do the right thing, and I didn’t want to ruin the relationship between Brown and Brady [over] spoiled milk.

Brown, who signed a one-year, $10.5 million deal with the Patriots on Sept. 7, 2019, was released on Sept. 20 after playing one game, following allegations of sexual misconduct.

Brown’s life has since been marked by more controversy, legal issues, and a dramatic departure from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he last played and rejoined Brady for a second stint in 2021.

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Brown spent most of his 12-year career with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He earned his first All-Pro selection in 2014 and was named to the All-Pro team for four consecutive years, from 2014 to 2017.

Meanwhile, the names Belichick and Brady are synonymous following six Super Bowl titles shared between them.

Todderick Hunt covers Sports and Culture and Recruiting. Have a story idea or a tip? He can be reached atthunt@njadvancemedia.com.