Thursday 10 November 2016 13:48, UK
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick says his friendship for newly elected U.S President Donald Trump is not based on politics.
Trump read the letter from New England Patriots head coach Belichick at a republican fan rally in New Hampshire last week.
The letter congratulated Trump on a "tremendous campaign", despite a "slanted and negative media".
In his weekly press conference, Belichick addressed the letter, calling the now elected Trump a long-term friend but argued that their relationship was not based on politics.
"Our friendship goes back many years," Belichick said. "Anybody who spends more than five minutes with me knows I'm not a political person. My comments are not politically motivated. I have a friendship with Donald."
"I write hundreds of letters and notes every month. It doesn't mean I agree with every single thing a person thinks about politics, religion and other subjects. I have multiple friendships that are important to me. That's what that is all about. It's not about politics. It's about football."
Following Belichick's comments, he refused to answer any more questions on the subject of the presidential election, which Trump won on Tuesday.
When a reporter asked further questions on the letter and the election in general, Belichick spoke over the journalist, simply repeating "Seattle", the Patriots' week 10 opponents.
After a stream of questions, Belichick remained silent before forcing the conference on to Sunday's upcoming game. The Patriots are 7-1, and lead the AFC East by three games.
