Recently the entire nation has turned their back on the New England Patriots organization as a result of what is now being referred to as “Deflate-gate.” It has created an “us against the world” mentality inside the New England locker room as they prepare to play on the world’s biggest athletic stage. Arguably one of the most dominant teams to emerge in the last 20 years, their reputation will be forever tarnished. The team’s status will never be the same, and neither will that of their head coach, Bill Belichick.

During a pre-Super Bowl press conference in Arizona, a reporter spoke up among all the noise and accusations being thrown around about Belichick’s involvement with deflate-gate. “I want to celebrate you as a coach. As one of our pioneers in sports, period,” said John Mitchell of ESPN Brazil. “How do you want to be remembered?”

As a young boy, Belichick was surrounded by football. Though he was born in Nashville, Tennessee he was raised in Annapolis, Maryland where his father, Steve Belichick, was an assistant football coach for the United States Naval Academy. Through his high school years, football was the sport that dominated. After high school, Belichick began attending Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut where he played both center and tight end.

Continuing to chase his dream in football after college, he took a $25-per-week job working as an assistant to the Baltimore Colts. A year later, he would work for the Detroit Lions until finally landing a job in the New York Giants’ organization in 1979. He stayed in New York for 12 years building a reputation for himself as their defensive coordinator. During Super Bowl XXV, New York played against the Buffalo Bills, who at the time were seemingly unstoppable.

Not to Belichick, whose defensive game plan from that game now sits in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as it caused a legendary 20-19 upset over the Bills. Soon after, Belichick left New York to be the head coach of the Cleveland Browns where he coached from 1991-95, producing a 36-44 record. Despite having some reasonable success, he would be dismissed from the team due to complications with the owner. He would spend the 1996 season with the Patriots as an assistant before ending up back in New York, but this time for the Jets.

Due to many complications, Belichick never actually coached a game for the Jets. Instead, he found his way back to the Patriot organization and was hired as head coach, from that moment on he would never look back. His time in New England has been legendary. With a winning record of 185-71, Belichick and his star quarterback Tom Brady have won more games together than any coach and quarterback ever have. Belichick, counting this current Super Bowl, has brought the Patriots seven times to football’s biggest stage and won four times.

Belichick is the definition of a veteran, serving more than 40 years in the NFL. This weekend he will compete again for the Lombardi Trophy, winning his last in 2004. Win or not, Belichick has changed the game of football forever. No videotaping scandal or deflated ball can ever take away all he has accomplished and the fact he is one of the greatest coaches that will ever play the game.