Patriots

Dana White defends Bill Belichick: ‘You can’t have a 50-year dynasty. It just doesn’t work that way.’

"We'll get some good picks next year, and Belichick will do what he does," White said. "We'll end up with some guys that you've never heard of that'll end up being great."

Dana White at TD Garden Wednesday night. Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff

December 1, 2023

Running the UFC keeps Dana White busy, but he still makes time to watch Boston sports, including the 2-9 Patriots.

White, who was one of six honorees at The Sports Museum’s 22nd annual “The Tradition” awards program at TD Garden Wednesday night, spoke with Boston.com about his Boston sports fandom at the event.

“I love the city. I love Boston sports,” White said. “It’s very close to me and my family. We’ve had so many great experiences. My sons are 23 and 22. My daughter is 17. And we’re all Boston fans because we spend a lot of time in Vegas. Vegas is now becoming a sports town, but it wasn’t the last 20 years.”

“So, we’re heavily invested in Boston sports and to be honored by the Garden is a big deal to me.”

White was eager to give his opinion on the Patriots, who are in the midst of their worst season in decades. Fans could use a little more patience, given the success that the team has had under Bill Belichick over the past two decades, he said.

“The way that I look at the Pats is that Boston is a very spoiled city,” White said. “Everybody in this city is spoiled rotten because we’ve been so great at everything for so long that if we’re not great everybody’s pissed off and everybody gets crazy.

“You can’t have a 50-year dynasty,” White added. “It just doesn’t work that way. We’ve had 20 incredible years with the Patriots. The Celtics have given us nothing but great times. The Red Sox, the Bruins. There’s always going to be these rebuilding phases, you know what I mean? It’s just part of sports.”

White said he hopes Belichick will continue to coach the team after this season, despite recent struggles.

“We’ll get some good picks next year, and Belichick will do what he does,” White said. “We’ll end up with some guys that you’ve never heard of that’ll end up being great, and we’re in this whole rebuilding phase. I look forward to it.”

White said fans who want Belichick to be fired are “out of their minds.”

“Talk about ungrateful,” White said. “Ungrateful, you people. 20 years of just kicking [expletive] and unbelievable, amazing experiences with the Patriots, and now you want him out? I remember when they were saying get rid of [Tom] Brady, and bring in what’s his name who’s always hurt? [Jimmy] Garoppolo. [expletive] Garoppolo. Are you kidding me?

“Brady was was a savage. He was a dog. That guy would have played. If you took his head off on a play he would stay in there would never go out, would never go out injured. Yes, Boston fans are incredibly spoiled rotten.”

White said he still considers Boston to be one of his favorite cities.

“My favorite memories of Boston are always in the summertime,” White said. “I’m not a big cold weather guy, but this is one of those cities where when the weather is perfect there literally isn’t a better place on earth. When you think of this city, the sports, the food, the history, the schools, the list just goes on and on.

“And then when you think of Boston and New England as a whole, you can go up to Maine, you can go up to New Hampshire, you can go up to Vermont. It’s just one of the greatest cities in the world.”