Bill Belichick publicly blasted Denver Broncos wide receiver Wes Welker--a player he used to coach--for his hit on New England Patriots cornerback Aqib Talib during Sunday's AFC Championship Game, but the league deemed the hit by Welker on Talib as legal, according to reports.
ESPN reports that NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino announced that the league didn't believe that there was any wrong doing in Welker's open-field pick on Talib that knocked the corner from the game.
"It was a legal hit," Blandino said on the NFL Network on Wednesday night, according to ESPN.
Judging by Belichick's comments on Monday following Sunday night's game, he won't agree with what the league has ruled.
"It was a deliberate play by the receiver to take out Aqib. No attempt to get open," Belichick said, never mentioning Welker, the former Patriots receiver, by name, according to ESPN. "I'll let the league handle the discipline on that play."
The league did handle the discipline on the play and opted not to punish Welker, and Blandino explained why.
"The first potential foul would be for offensive pass interference; a receiver can't block downfield before the ball is touched, so the timing is important," Blandino told the NFL Network. "The contact occurs, the ball is touched almost simultaneously. We don't have a foul for pass interference."
Blandino also ruled out the play being a case of unnecessary roughness.
"The other thing, is it unnecessary roughness? Under the current rules it isn't. It's not late," he told the network. "Talib wasn't out of the play. Unfortunately there was an injury, so just like in other situations when an injury does occur, the competition committee will take a look at this and determine if there needs to be a change. But under the current rules, this is a legal play."
Talib suffered a knee injury on the play and didn't return to the game as the Patriots eventually fell to the Broncos 26-16 and the Broncos stamped their ticket to Super Bowl XLVIII and awaited to see who their opponents would be, which ended up being the Seattle Seahawks after they disposed of the San Francisco 49ers.
Ahead of their clash with the Seahawks, Seattle cornerback Walter Thurmond said he believed it was a dirty hit.
"The receiver ran right into the guy," Thurmond said Wednesday, according to the New York Post. "I don't know the extent of the injury Talib had, but I thought we were supposed to protect football players in this league now. I guess not. I guess that only goes one way."
Thurmond also hinted that Welker's star status may have enabled him to get away with it.
"Some players get away with a lot more than other players depending on status, but that's just the nature of the game," Thurmond told the Post.
Blandino told the NFL Network that he talked to Belichick about the play.
"We talked about the situation and the play, and obviously there is a difference of opinion there and something that we'll continue to look at during the offseason," he said.
Welker will go unpunished and head to MetLife Stadium for Super Bowl XLVIII on Feb. 2 when the Broncos take on the Seahawks.
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