Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft remain at odds over the circumstances that led to the beginning of the most successful era in NFL history.

It’s been 26 years now, but opinions still differ as to who took more of a risk back in 1999 when the New England Patriots made Bill Belichick their head coach.

Robert Kraft, owner of the team then and now, claimed just last month on Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski’s “Dudes on Dudes” podcast that the decision to hire Belichick was “a big risk”: “The most doubted decision was the one in 1999.”

Belichick countered that it was he who took the bigger risk back then. “I’ve told Robert many times that I took a big risk when I accepted the job as head coach of the New England Patriots,” Belichick told ESPN when asked.

NFL: Bill Belichick – “Several former coaches warned me”

The reason was the overall state of the franchise at the time, according to Belichick. “Several former Patriots coaches, as well as members of other NFL organizations and the media, warned me that the job in New England would involve many internal obstacles,” Belichick said, without naming names.

He made it clear “that we needed to change the way the team was run in order to be successful again.”

In this context, he revealed that he had also had another option. “I already had the opportunity to become head coach of the New York Jets, but the ownership situation was unstable,” explained the 73-year-old.

Belichick had been with the Jets as an assistant coach since 1997 before accepting the Patriots’ offer.

New England Patriots: Robert Kraft takes a jab at Belichick

Their owner, Kraft, reminded former Patriots players Edelman and Gronkowski in their podcast that he had given up the first draft pick in 1999 for Belichick. “And that was for a coach who had won just over 40 percent of his games.”

It will probably never be possible to say with any certainty which of the two took the greater risk at the time. But what is much more important is what ultimately came of this collaboration: the most successful era in NFL history, with six Super Bowl titles in 24 years.