Mr. Black Eye is not shying away from the rumors, as New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was spotted in the locker room sporting boxing gloves as a reference to the shiner he was sporting.
Bill Belichick just walked through the locker room carrying ... a pair of boxing gloves.
— Phil Perry (@PhilAPerry) January 13, 2016
Photos weren't allowed in the locker room (other than for interviews of players), but hopefully one will surface. Belichick has certainly made a point of keeping the team loose in the postseason after the team was far too uptight during the 2007 run. The Patriots have gone bowling, watched movies, and spoken to Hollywood stars in order to take some of the pressure away from the team.
This year is overshadowed by a mixture of DeflateGate, an absent Rob Gronkowski (although he returned to practice), a hospitalized Chandler Jones, and a black eye for Belichick.
Alec and I posed the theory that Belichick just used make-up to detract from the other negative stories and to put the focus on himself. While I doubt that's true, the Patriots head coach is certainly trying to lighten the mood.