A Report Claims Belichick Ordered UNC's Social Media Not to Post Anything Related to Drake Maye or the Patriots

In the normal course of business, whenever a young talented professional athlete succeeds, no one celebrates that success more than his alma mater. Partly out of pride. Partly out of gratitude. And if you want to be cynical about it, mainly out of greed. Because the more you can brag about one of your own, the more you're signaling to future prospects that the path to success goes right through your program. 

So when recent Tar Heel Drake Maye lit the football world on fire with an electric 22-of-30, 273 yard, 101.1 passer rating, last minute win on Sunday Night Football, it seemed odd to people who follow such things that the U. of North Carolina socials were all quiet about it. In that "The Curious Case of the NCAA Program in the Nighttime" sort of way. UNC Football is the social media account that didn't bark. 

That's an especially strange approach given that when I was at Chapel Hill last month:

... I couldn't help but notice that Drake Maye jerseys are still very much in fashion on campus. I didn't count, No. 10 football jerseys were running neck-and-neck and heading for a photo finish with Michael Jordan gear. And the merch stores and souvenir stands still had them on sale at full price. So it made no sense they wouldn't be pumping his tires still. 

I guess unless you put it in context of how the Heels have been doing against the better programs this season. 

So at least one Journo looked into it. And reports that the silence was not an oversight. It was intentional. And orders came straight from the top:

Now, note the timing on these posts from Ross Martin. All are from between 8:01am and 8:37am today. Then at 9:56am, UNC Football's official account dropped this:

Now, you can certainly make a case that no one was intentionally ignoring Maye, since Carolina Football didn't post anything after 4:00pm Sunday. It's not like the account was all over the place celebrating the heroic exploits of Omarion Hampton and Cedric Gray. Whomever was supposed to be running the account might have just been busy, spending quality time with family, watching Washington at the Chargers, or simply trying to seduce some coed like a free American. We're all entitled to spend our free time as we choose. And getting off the socials for a few hours is almost as good for your mental health as successfully seducing a coed. 

But then again, it's hard to look at these dots and not connect them into a picture that looks like this is intentional. After all, it wasn't that long ago that we got a full accounting of how much the relationship between HC Bill and the Krafts went tits up toward the end:

Or how he's carried the seething resentment of his treatment down to Chapel Hill, where Pats scouts have been put on the No Fly list:

So who knows for sure if this was an accidental oversight or an intentional act, done for the oldest motivation in the world: Spite. It certainly wouldn't be the first time.

All I know for sure is it's no longer my fight. My present and future are now fully invested in the quarterback UNC took all morning to celebrate, and the Patriots head coach who replaced the guy who replaced Belichick. 

Well that and the fact it seems like the entire infrastructure at UNC, the faculty, boosters, fans and media, have the knives out for Belichick and his staff. They'll have to fight it out amongst themselves. 

We're onto New Orleans. Go Patriots.