Browns beat reporter Mary Kay Cabot took a brutal jab at Bill Belichick’s highly publicized romance with 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson on Friday when she accepted the Bill Nunn Memorial Award during the Pro Football Hall of Fame Gold Jacket Dinner in Canton, Ohio.
Cabot, who began covering the Browns in 1991, the same year Belichick, 73, took over as coach in Cleveland, first joked about going through the wringer with the future Hall of Famer.
“Bill Belichick was the first Browns coach I ever covered,” Cabot began, as covered by Awful Announcing. “You see, if you start out with Bill Belichick, no one can rattle you after that. If Bill didn’t like something I wrote, he’d call and yell at me. If you asked a dumb question, he’d call you out. Eventually, I had to learn to stand up to him. During one of those yelling matches, I told him, if you don’t have the ‘footballs’ to say that to the guys, then don’t say it to me. Bam.”
That’s when Cabot’s speech pivoted to the UNC coach’s widely scrutinized personal life.
“But now, I totally understand why Bill gave me such a hard time. I was 28 at the time, and he just couldn’t relate to a woman that old,” Cabot said as the audience roared with laughter.
Although many on social media also chuckled over Cabot’s zinger, the remarks didn’t appear to please everyone.
On Saturday, Hudson’s X account reposted a message from a separate user that read: “Not much of a ‘laugh.’ No wonder so many have contempt for the media, especially those who want to be the story rather than [report] on the story.”
Belichick’s romance with Hudson was first revealed in June 2024.
Their relationship has largely been under a microscope following a disastrous “CBS Sunday Morning” interview in April, when Hudson pushed back on a question intended for Belichick about how they met.
Amid speculation about her role in Belichick’s personal and professional endeavors, the eight-time Super Bowl-winning coach made it clear in May that Hudson does not “have anything to do with UNC football.”
Belichick and the Tar Heels open the 2025 season against TCU on Sept. 1.
