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Being part of New England sports 'pretty special' to Bill Belichick

Patriots coach Bill Belichick and Bruins coach Claude Julien talk before the Winter Classic at Gillette Stadium on Dec. 31. Brian Babineau/Getty Images

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick was part of the keynote address at the 2016 Salesforce World Tour event on Thursday, sharing his opinion that quarterback Tom Brady is the "greatest quarterback of all time." He was also asked about what it’s like being part of the region with such a rich tradition in professional sports.

“It’s pretty special. I grew up in Maryland but went to school here in Andover and four years at Wesleyan in Connecticut. So I’m pretty familiar with this area. I spent a lot of summers on Nantucket, even when I was with other teams, other organizations. So I really feel like it’s home,” he said.

“When you walk through Logan Airport, you see all the banners there; Celtics banners up until recently. And then recently you kind of got one from everybody, or more than one. It’s an awesome feeling, great pride. Of course, the support that Boston fans give our teams is unbelievable, not just the Patriots. Certainly we feel like we have that 12th man in the stadium every time we play at home, but going to the Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics games, it’s just an awesome support that this community gives the pro sports teams.

“I have a good relationship with all those coaches. I talk to Claude [Julien], I talk to Brad [Stevens] on a regular basis, and we wish them well here as they come to the home stretch in their seasons. It’s a great community, [with] great support for our sports teams. We want to make our fans proud of what we do. We work hard at that literally every day, every year.”