Belichick says releases are ‘hardest part'

By Tom E. CurranFOXBORO - Since the beginning of training camp, the Patriots have toldabout 50 players they couldn't play for them this year. The last cut is the hardest cut, though. The veterans who've been embraced after championships. The rookies whose life perspective is still forming.The guys who see it cming and the ones who are shocked by the news. Bill Belichick broke it to many on Friday and Saturday. Sunday, he spoke eloquently about the difficulty of making those moves. "It's the hardest part of the job to take players that have played for you, won for you, and players that have been here since the spring, the whole offseason, done everything we asked them to do, worked hard, sweated, been banged up, kept going out there, kept playing, kept trying to do everything they could to make the team, to do everything we asked them to do, to do it with a team-first attitude and fashion. To tell those players that they can't be part of the team, that's very difficult," Belichick said. "On the other hand, we all know when we get into this business that that's the way it's gonna be."There's a fair amount of hand-wringing by fans and media when cuts come. This guy should have been cut sooner. That guy was disrespected. And maybe the player feels that way too. But if he's realistic and pragmatic,even if he's done dirty, he knew when he signed on that it could end with hurt. "As Jerry Glanville said, 'Not for long,' " Belichick noted, citing the famed NFL Films quote Glanville uttered to official Jim Daopoulos when Glanville coached the Falcons. "A lot of coaches, including myself have been through that. A lot of players have been through that. It's a production business and there's not too many of us that have been in the game very long and not experienced that in some form or fashion. It's part of the business."But it's not a real happy day as a head coach to give that news to any player," Belichick added. "You're affecting somebody's life and somebody's career. Somebody that's worked hard and given everything they can to earn a spot on your team. It's disappointing for them and it's not fun to deliver that news."