Bill Belichick explains outburst: "I was trying to get the official’s attention"

Bill Belichick is facing scrutiny after grabbing a referee at the conclusion of last night's loss to the Baltimore Ravens (Rob Carr, Getty Images)

New England Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick has directly addressed the controversy surrounding his grabbing of an official after his team's last-second loss to the Baltimore Ravens. The Boston Heraldhas Belichick's full comments, wherein he explains that he was merely trying to get the official's attention to see if the field goal that won the game for Baltimore was reviewable.

“I’ve coached in this league a long time and never been penalized, never had any incidents with officials or anything like that. I have never meant any disrespect or in any way tried to abuse or be disrespectful to the officials and the job that they do. I’m trying to get an explanation for obviously an important call, play, in that game. That’s the number one thing between coaches and officials. It’s always at the forefront. It’s just communication of what’s going on, of what’s happening."

Belichick was widely thought to be facing a fine from the NFL for his actions (video here), just as Broncos coaches faced earlier today. The league has made no announcement as of yet concerning Bellichick's actions.