The 72-year-old former coach of the New England Patriots, Bill Belichick, has a girlfriend. She is a 24-year-old woman named Jordon Hudson. But you probably knew that.
Ever since the Boomer and Gen Z pair started dating last year, every single tabloid has been obsessed, social media has been ablaze, and we’ve all been forced to learn the details—regardless of whether we care about the personal life of a football coach.
If you haven’t yet heard, Belichick reportedly met Hudson in 2021 on a plane from Boston to Florida. Yep, you’re doing the math right, at the time Hudson was 21 and a student at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts, where she also was on the cheerleading team.
According to TMZ, the duo exchanged numbers and “stayed friends” until Belichick’s split with his longtime girlfriend, Linda Holliday, in 2022. They then became an item sometime after the breakup but kept it quiet until June 2024, when they went public.
Hudson graduated from Bridgewater State in 2022 and according to her LinkedIn page, is now self-employed. Here are some more things about her: she likes parrots and fishing, she came in second place in the Miss Maine pageant in 2024, and she is a licensed cosmetologist.
But most people don’t discuss any of these attributes when discussing Hudson. Instead, she’s become a tabloid and social media sensation for the fact that she’s young, conventionally attractive and fit, and is dating a man old enough to be her grandfather.
Ever since the Belichick and Hudson came out as a couple, every appearance they make in public has become a whole thing. This year’s NFL Honors ceremony, held on Thursday night, was no exception.
As soon as Jordon Hudson, dressed in a midriff-baring shimmery silver dress, and Belichick hit the red carpet, tongues were immediately wagging. Belichick (who now coaches college football in North Carolina) wore all his Super Bowl rings he received as coach of the Patriots, but much of the chatter was focused on Hudson on his arm rather than the rings on his hands.
Hudson even got a shout out during the ceremony, with Snoop Dogg, the host, making a dig at her age.
“I’ve been a football fan for a long, long time,” the rapper said. I mean, I remember back when the Cowboys was good. I remember back when the Chiefs was bad…And I remember, what was it? Bill Belichick’s girlfriend wasn’t even born yet.”
https://x.com/NFLonFOX/status/1887685988681482496
The crowd erupted, with Hudson’s mouth dropping open. She looked around, her face a mix of faux outrage and amused acceptance. The next day, the clip and the photos of Belichick and his GF were all over the internet.
This media firestorm is a tale as old as time. It’s not even that unique, or interesting. The real question is, why are we forced to live every detail of it?
Those who are commenting (and commenting, and commenting) on Hudson and Belechick’s romance are falling into basically two camps. There are those who are cheering him on for the fact that this septuagenarian has “scored” such a hot young woman. It’s eye-roll and rage inducing, but it’s not particularly surprising.
Then, there are those that are concerned about the Bill Belichick girlfriend situation for different reasons: the well being of said girlfriend. Over the past few years, there has been a significant uptick in backlash against what’s come to be known as “age gap” relationships, with a long and protracted debate online and in popular culture about if they are or could ever be ethical. There are those who would say that Hudson is a victim in this situation by virtue of her youth compared to Belechick, but also because of her relative lack of power. When they met, he was the legendary coach who took the Patriots to eight Super Bowl titles. She was a college student. How could that not be a potential red flag?
I’m not here to speculate about the relationship between these two, and especially not to make any assumptions about Hudson’s mindset or personal reasons for being in this relationship. We don’t know what’s going through her mind, and more importantly, we don’t deserve to.
What I do know is this whole brouhaha over Belichick and his girlfriend is playing right into the coach’s hands, and just bringing up tired and annoying misogynistic arguments that we really don’t need to be having.
The coach is getting what he presumably wants. He is getting a lot of attention at a time when he ordinarily would be fading away into the background, sunsetting an impressive but ultimately ending career. Instead, he’s decided to set off on a series of flexes, using Hudson and her body and beauty as a way to maintain his own relevance. And we are all playing right into it, perpetuating stereotypes and recycling a bunch of patriarchal narratives.
If these two want to date each other, great! Fine! I sincerely hope everyone is happy and healthy, and is getting what they want. All I want is for them to please leave us out of it.
The post Bill Belichick Girlfriend: Why Do We Care About the 48-Year Age Gap? appeared first on Glamour.
