Belichick: Oakland crowds ‘intense’
As the Raiders prepare to play what is expected to be their final game at the Oakland Coliseum on Sunday, tributes have poured in from across the NFL.
Add Patriots coach Bill Belichick to the list of people who have special memories about the stadium.
“There was the game and there were all the other aspects of the game,” Belichick said. “The Oakland crowd was a lot more intense than the L.A. crowd. … Pretty intense fans. It’s like Halloween there every Sunday.”
Belichick has a long history with the Coliseum, beginning when he was with the Broncos as an assistant special teams coach in 1978 at the height of what he recalled “a very intense rivalry.”
When he became a head coach, Belichick said he used to tell his players not to stand too close to him in case fans threw something in his direction and missed.
“It’s a great environment,” he said. “It’s a baseball stadium, so it’s configured that way — you don’t really see that much anymore. They’ve had some great games out there.”
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