Bill Belichick is trying to win his third Super Bowl in four years. AP

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The other night, at the taping of HBO's Inside the NFL, New England wide receiver Deion Branch was hanging around in the trailer near the set after he did his on-air segment. The subject: Bill Belichick. Branch said when he passes Belichick in the hall at Gillette Stadium, they pass without saying hello. "He's that way with most of us,'' Branch said. "That's just him.''

And after the game? "Oh, he shows you his appreciation after the game,'' Branch said.

This morning, at Belichick's final press briefing before Super Bowl XXXIX, he got about as warm and fuzzy as he's going to get in a group of people. Asked to compare this Super Bowl team with the other two Patriots' teams he's coached, he said: "This has been a very hard-working team. They've withstood a lot of adversity. I'm very proud to be the coach of this group of men."

People, that's as good as Belchick's going to get. He just doesn't do the gush stuff well, as I'm sure you know. I've been around him a lot over the past 20 years -- first as defensive coordinator of the Giants, then as coach of the Browns, then as an assistant with the Patriots and Jets and now as the New England coach. Last summer, I had the chance to go to his home in suburban Boston and saw him hug his sons, pet his dog and chat up his wife. What I remember is his happiness. Contentment, maybe.

But this is a guy comfortable in his own skin. He's real. The real Belichick is on display to his team every day, as a quasi-militaristic guy. I never met Vince Lombardi, and I doubt Belichick's as hard-bitten a person or communicator, but he is simply a total bottom-line guy.

He wins. He sets the world record for blandness, but he wins. And he's true to himself.

I just hope, for his sake and for the Patriots', that he stays true to himself. My guess is he will. But when everyone from Hartford to Hong Kong calls you the biggest genius since Einstein, how can you avoid your cap size going from a 7 to a 7 1/2? I hope he's able to keep his own life in perspective the same way he's telling his team to keep life in perspective.

FIVE THINGS I THINK I THINK

1. I think Paul Tagliabue's most interesting comment today at his State of the NFL briefing came when a Canadian reporter asked if there would be a franchise in Canada "in our lifetime.'' Said Tags: "That depends how long you expect to live.'' Much laughter. Then: "I think it could be very likely that the next franchises outside of our 32 are outside the United States. Certainly Toronto, certainly Mexico ... My guess is it will happen.'' That I expected. But the most interesting thing he said is that he said it's possible that the league will play a regular-season game outside the United States in the foreseeable future. After his press conference, in a sidebar with a few reporters, he said it could be as soon as this year. Hmmmm. I'll be looking into that this weekend for MMQB.

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2. I think Belichick mirrored what just about everyone feels right now about the heroic Terrell Owens story. "They're not going to put the guy out there in a wheelchair,'' he said. Here's the bottom line: Owens is going to play X number of snaps -- I say 50 or 60 percent -- and the Patriots are going to be very physical with him. Very. And we'll see what happens. I think it's great that Owens has enough pride in his job that he's trying so hard to play in this game. But it doesn't make him the toughest guy ever or the greatest guy ever. Let's play the game and see what happens.

3. I think the rudest thing in our little corner of the world is the use of cell phones and all their weird ringers in the middle of press conferences and business meetings. Just plain inconsiderate, people.

4. I think Rupert Murdoch is trying very hard -- and from what I hear, coming close to succeeding -- to get the late-season Thursday-Saturday night package for one of his cable entities.

5. I think the best question for Tagliabue today came from Len Shapiro of the Washington Post. He asked why the NFL doesn't have the same affirmative-action rules in place for the hiring of general managers as it has for head coaches. Tagliabue said, basically, he thinks the owners are doing fine in the front-office area and don't need a policy to assist them in getting more minorities as general managers. I really disagree with that. Why, when the Green Bay Packers and the San Francisco 49ers are interviewing for new general managers/personnel directors, don't they have to interview a black candidate? Aren't the NFL owners as concerned with color in the front office as much as color on the coaching staff?