Patriots

Morning sports update: Bill Belichick explained why he grew up rooting for the Colts

"Gino had the best restaurant."

Bill Belichick
Bill Belichick during a 2019 press conference. Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff

By Hayden Bird

The Red Sox are in Colorado today to face the Rockies. First pitch is set for 8:40 p.m.

The Patriots prepare to cut down the team’s roster on Saturday by 4 p.m., with one more preseason game coming up on Thursday at Gillette Stadium against the Giants at 7:30 p.m.

Bill Belichick was a Colts fan growing up: On Monday afternoon, Bill Belichick initially appeared to have an eyebrow-raising reaction to the announcement that Andrew Luck was retiring at age 29.

“He’s a good player,” Belichick told reporters. “I didn’t see that, but I haven’t really followed them. We all have to make our decisions. He made his. I respect that.”

The Patriots later clarified the remark in the transcript, adding in a new word, “I didn’t see that [coming].”

Later on Monday, Belichick ended up discussing the Colts again, though in a very different way. It turns out that as a kid growing up in Annapolis, the future Patriots coach rooted for the then-Baltimore Colts.

“At the professional level, I just always liked the Colts because they were the home team,” said Belichick on WEEI”s “Ordway, Merloni & Fauria.” “They had great teams, great players on offense. They had five Hall of Famers, [Jim] Parker, [Johnny] Unitas, [John] Mackey, [Lenny] Moore, and [Raymond] Berry. And then defensively, with [Gino] Marchetti, and they had a great defense. They were a very good team, fun to watch. Those players were very active with the community, so sooner or later you’d meet them and that kind of thing. They all had restaurants. Gino had the best restaurant.”

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Belichick recalled how Marchetti’s fast food chain “Gino’s” was the best-known.

“Gino’s, oh yeah,” said Belichick, echoing the company’s longtime jingle. “‘Everybody goes to Gino’s.’ Sure. On the whole eastern seaboard of Kentucky Fried Chicken, he bought that franchise and everything else.”

“Anyway, kind of anybody who played the Colts, didn’t really like them. Unless it was the Browns, because I liked the Browns. Liked Paul Brown, liked Jim Brown, liked the Cleveland Browns.”

Trivia: The Patriots have scored touchdowns of 80 yards or more 52 times in team history. The last time New England had a passing play go more than 80 yards for a touchdown was in 2013 against the Steelers. Who caught the pass and scored on the play?

(Answer at the bottom).

Hint: He went to college at Marshall.

More from Boston.com:

Jerod Mayo’s take on the Patriots’ defense: Though he admitted, “It’s weird hearing guys call me coach, I’ll be honest with you,” Patriots coach Jerod Mayo (a former New England middle linebacker) is excited for the 2019 season.

“We have a very smart group in the back end,” Mayo told MassLive’s Andrew Callahan. “The front is getting better ever day. The linebackers, their effort is 100 percent each and every day. I love what I’m seeing.” [MassLive]

An update on Patriots center David Andrews:

Red Sox prospect Bobby Dalbec homered for the third straight game playing for Pawtucket:

On this day: In 2004, Argentina defeated the United States in men’s Olympic basketball, 89-81. It ended an unbroken American streak of gold medals since the introduction of professional players.

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The loss had been detectable based on the team’s hastily-assembled roster and tournament inconsistency. In the opening game for the U.S. at the Athens Olympics, the latest iteration of the “Dream Team” lost by 19 to Puerto Rico. Rebound wins against Greece and Australia were followed by another loss, this time to Lithuania. Despite overcoming a talented Spanish team in the quarterfinals, the U.S. couldn’t rally against Argentina.

It was a the high-water mark for Argentine basketball. Led by Spurs guard Manu Ginobli, the Argentinian team forced numerous turnovers and exploited poor American defense with quality passing. The South Americans defeated Italy to win the gold medal.

The loss forced a reassessment of the U.S. men’s national team setup. Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski was brought in to be the team’s new coach, and a refocusing occurred over the ensuing years. American upsets weren’t entirely finished — the 2006 FIBA World Championship saw the U.S. lose to Greece — but Olympic gold has been reclaimed in each of the last three Summer Games.

Daily highlight: Francisco Cervelli unveiled this bit of base-running insanity on Monday.

Trivia answer: Aaron Dobson