In the wake of a report that alleged Bill Belichick "hates" Tim Tebow as a player, the New England Patriots' coach on Thursday told ESPNBoston.com that it was "completely untrue."
Belichick would not comment on whether he would consider signing Tebow, but wanted to clear up any misconceptions on how he viewed the free-agent quarterback.
"I wouldn't get into the probability of us pursuing any free agent. Every single player has strengths and weaknesses but regardless of that, for anyone to have represented that is the way I feel about Tim Tebow is completely untrue, baseless and irresponsible," Belichick told ESPNBoston.com. "It is unfortunate that something so inaccurate was reported."
Last month, Yahoo! Sports cited an "organizational source" as saying Belichick disliked Tebow as a player and there was "no chance" of him landing in New England.
Tebow, 25, was released by the New York Jets in late April, cleared waivers and is currently a free agent.
The Patriots had Tebow in for a pre-draft visit in 2010, and Belichick had praised him in previous remarks. Couple that with the fact that Josh McDaniels, now the Patriots' offensive coordinator, drafted Tebow when he was the coach of the Broncos, and many have speculated that the Patriots and Tebow would be a good match.