For those of us who are true sickos, there’s nothing quite like the Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl.
But not all of us are Tedy Bruschi.
Sure, the Gasparilla Bowl has moved on from its legendary Bad Boy Mowers sponsorship — the honor now belongs to the Pinstripe Bowl — but we’ll always have Temple-FIU at Tropicana Field.
It might be gone, but it’ll never be forgotten.
In 2024, Nebraska and Boston College will carry the Bad Boy Mowers torch in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium. And yet, regardless of what happens, we know one thing for sure: Bruschi won’t be tuning in.
The former New England Patriots linebacker turned ESPN NFL analyst took a swipe at “Lawnmower Bowls” on Sunday NFL Countdown. As he discussed his former head coach taking the head football coaching position at the University of North Carolina, Bruschi opined that he didn’t want to see a football legend be relegated to second-tier bowl games.
“What are we doing here?” Bruschi asked. “I mean, with Bill Belichick going to coach North Carolina. I mean, college football — there’s only one bowl game I want to see Bill Belichick coaching, and that’s the Super Bowl, OK? I don’t want to see him coaching some Lawnmower Bowl in December or January; that’s just not who I am…”
“I don’t know how there wouldn’t be any interest as to where you bring a Belichick in, and he makes you immediately relevant and well-coached by who he is,” Bruschi continued. “Would he make one of these teams that needed a head coach this year an immediate contender? I mean, yes, he would; he is that good. Now, he’s not going to be on the level of six championships New England Patriots or anything like that — but your team would be competent from the get-go.”
Bruschi added he can’t believe Belichick won’t be in the NFL next season.
“That was my initial reaction…I don’t know how this happened,” he said.
That also might be Bruschi’s reaction if he sees Belichick getting a mayo bath after a Duke’s Mayo Bowl victory in 2025.
[Sunday NFL Countdown]
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.