Back in September, NFL Network debuted A Football Life: Bill Belichick, which chronicled the Patriots coach two years earlier during the entire 2009 season.[
It was the most-watched documentary in the history of the network](http://www.giants.com/media-lounge/videos/A-Football-Life-Belichick-on-Giants/05515b79-d9f6-4602-83ce-c34502a282e0), and one of the captivating scenes was the former New York assistant touring old Giants Stadium.
He grew emotional when walking the hallways, and during a conference call on Tuesday, Belichick was asked if he still has affection for the franchise.
"Yeah, absolutely. I was there for 12 years," he said. "Those were 12 great years in my life. I loved every one of them with the Giants; the people that I worked with, where I lived, our community. Two of my kids were born there, so there are a lot of fond memories there, absolutely. Tom and the relationship on the coaching staff with those guys, especially on defense, with Romeo [Crennel] and Al [Groh] and so forth. I think that came out in the whole piece in the interview there the last time I was in that facility. It was certainly an emotional moment that struck a lot of chords. That was a big, big part of my career and my life."
Before he squares off with Tom Coughlin again from opposite sidelines, Belichick spoke about his relationship with the Giants coach.
"I have a lot of respect for Tom," Belichick said on the same call. "I think he's definitely stood the test of time in a couple organizations: in Jacksonville and at the Giants. Of course, BC [Boston College] but I'm saying at the NFL level, he's withstood the test of time. He's tough; his teams are disciplined. They play with great competitiveness and play smart. They're a good situational football team. They force you to go out there and beat them. They do a lot of things well. That's kind of the way Tom is: Tom is tough, he's very detailed, he has a lot of experience, he's an intense coach and I think that's reflected in the way his teams play."
Belichick, who was an assistant in New York from 1979-1990, was the secondary coach when Coughlin coached the receivers with the Giants.
"We worked against each other daily and we also had great rapport off the field of helping each other out, talking about the different techniques and players of our upcoming opponents and suggestions of how to cover them or run routes, helping each other out on things like that as well as working with each other on the practice field," Belichick continued. "Of all the coaches I've worked with, it was as good as any. I had an excellent relationship with him for us being on opposite sides of the ball, but being able to help each other and our players help each other and have a good, healthy competitive situation, but also you've got the coach on the other side trying to help you and you trying to help them just get better. That certainly helped our secondary when I was with the Giants."
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