SAN DIEGO _ Bill Belichick was always the enemy.
What if he had been an ally?
Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates would own a Super Bowl ring or rings, perhaps, and maybe the Chargers would have had enough juice to get a new stadium built in San Diego.
Back to reality, or what passes for reality when an NFL coach talks to us sportswriters about the next opponent.
Patriots coach Belichick spoke Monday about Rivers, Gates and their team, in advance of Sunday's Divisional playoff game in Foxborough, Mass., where snow and sub-freezing temperatures are forecast.
In these teleconferences going back some 15 years to when Gates and Rivers arrived in Mission Valley, the Patriots coach, polarizing yet undeniably brilliant, granular and laser-focused about football, has given off always an authentic regard for Rivers and Gates.
This was no less evident Monday, the coach saying: "I have a ton of respect for Phil."
Both grew up under fathers who coached football, a role Rivers has said he foresees for himself.
As AFC rivals, the two were likely guarded if they crossed paths during a season, but Belichick and Rivers got to know each other as AFC colleagues during Pro Bowl weeks in Hawaii.
"He's a very smart person that understands football," Belichick said.
Describing Rivers as very inquisitive, the coach said the quarterback has a global view of the NFL.
"He knows a lot of what's going on, not just with his team, but studies other offenses, other teams around the leagues, and defenses. Can put it all together," Belichick said.
When current Colts head coach Frank Reich was a Chargers assistant coach in 2013-15, he often referred to Rivers as "the smartest guy in the building."
Rivers, said Belichick of their chats, left him "very impressed by his knowledge, his knowledge of the game, his knowledge of what we were doing, even though he's never been in our system, and how familiar he was with just everything in the league _ personnel, players, schemes."
His takeaway on Rivers: "He was a joy to be around and to coach."
