HE LOOKED HANDSOME. He was behind the podium at Gillette Stadium, answering questions about a letter he wrote to the president-elect of the United States. This was back in November, the day after the election. It was a Wednesday, the most serious football day of the week, the day when the game plans are installed, the day when he sets the tone, the day that reporters know he is the most buttoned-up -- the day that, for years, he often wore his famous gray hoodie with the severed sleeves.
On this day, though, he was wearing a nice dress shirt, pressed and cut, striped aqua and purple, one button undone.