Patriots coach Belichick and Incredible Hulk star Ferrigno join Trump sports council

During Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, he promised the American public “we’re going to win so much, you’re going to be so sick and tired of winning.”

So it’s little surprise Trump has decided to appoint Bill Belichick, a man who has made America sick and tired of watching the New England Patriots win the Super Bowl, to the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition.

Joining Belichick are an eclectic band of names, including bodybuilder and former Incredible Hulk actor Lou Ferrigno, Olympic beach volleyball champion Misty May-Treanor, New York Yankees legend Mariano Rivera and college football hall of famer Herschel Walker, who played for Trump’s New Jersey Generals in the 1980s. Also on the list is Mehmet Oz, better known as TV’s Dr Oz, who has been widely criticised for promoting pseudoscience.

Belichick, who has transformed the Patriots into a ruthless winning machine since taking over as head coach in 2000, is an old friend of Trump. In the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, Trump read out a letter he said Belichick had written in support of his campaign, praising Trump as “the ultimate competitor and fighter”. Belichick later said the note was not meant as a political statement. The Patriots’ quarterback, Tom Brady, perhaps the most famous athlete in America, displayed a Make America Great Again cap in his locker during the early days of Trump’s campaign.

It is unlikely Belichick will emulate the president’s love of Twitter in his new role. In 2015, the famously taciturn Belichick made his contempt for social media known. “Just go talk to the geniuses online. MyFace, YourFace, InstantFace … just go talk to whoever you want that does that stuff. I don’t know,” he said.

It is believed the council will put more emphasis on children’s participation in sport than under the Obama administration when the body was particularly focused on nutrition. Trump’s decision to include high-profile athletes is in line with the Obama administration, when figures such as New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees and tennis champion and civil rights activist Billie Jean King served on the council.