FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick says he admired the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, who sent him personal notes and congratulations on the team’s successes.

Belichick said Wednesday that Kennedy’s “leadership and his courage were certainly something I personally always looked up to” and also “meant a lot” to people in Massachusetts and the nation.

Speaking at the team’s training facility the morning after Kennedy’s death from brain cancer, Belichick said the senator “personally was very supportive of this team and also of me.” He added that Kennedy attended the team’s Super Bowl victory visits to the White House.

Kennedy played football at Harvard. As a senior end, he caught a five-yard pass for a touchdown in a 21-7 loss to Yale on Nov. 20, 1955.

Patriots re-sign free agent WR Robert Ortiz

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) – The New England Patriots have re-signed wide receiver Robert Ortiz.

Wednesday’s move came one month after they released him July 23. He also had been cut by the Patriots before last year’s training camp.

Ortiz played at San Diego State and signed with the Chargers as a rookie free agent in 2006. They waived him before the season and he went to Seattle’s training camp in 2007, where he also was waived before the first regular-season game.

Before the 2008 season, the Patriots signed Ortiz. After they released him, he signed with San Francisco, which waived him before last season.

Copy the Story Link