On Monday night, Donald Trump told supporters in Manchester, New Hampshire that not only had Patriots quarterback Tom Brady called him earlier in the day to say he voted for him, but the real-estate magnate also read a letter of support he received from Bill Belichick.

"Congratulations on a tremendous campaign. You have dealt with an unbelievable slanted and negative media, and have come out beautifully - beautifully. You've proved to be the ultimate competitor and fighter. Your leadership is amazing. I have always had tremendous respect for you, but the toughness and perseverance you have displayed over the past year is remarkable. Hopefully tomorrow's election results will give the opportunity to make America great again. Best wishes for great results tomorrow.

- Bill"

There was skepticism, at least in the Twittersphere, that the letter was authentic. Partly because Belichick is usually laser-focused on the Pats' next opponent, and Trump has been known to stretch the truth. But CSNNE.com's Tom Curran reported on Tuesday that the letter was, in fact, authentic. And Belichick did the same on Wednesday morning, hours after Trump won the 2016 presidential election, when meeting with the media.

"I've received a number of inquiries relative to a note I wrote to Donald on Monday," Belichick said, via WEEI.com. "Our friendship goes back many years and I think anyone that spends more than five minutes with me knows I am not a political person. My comments are not politically motivated, but friendship and loyalty to Donald. A couple of weeks ago we had Secretary of State [John] Kerry in our locker room. He's a friend of mine. I can't imagine two people with more political views than those two. To me friendship and loyalty is about that, it's not about political or religious views.

"I write hundreds of letters and notes every month. It doesn't mean I agree with every single thing that every person thinks about politics, religion, or other subjects. I have multiple friendships that are important to me. That's what that was about. Not about politics, this is about football. We have a huge game this week against a great football team, great organization. That's where it all is going forward. On to Seattle."

The political questions continued though, as Belichick made clear, he was on to Seattle.

Belichick's response isn't all that different than Brady's answer last month to questions about Trump's infamous Access Hollywood tape.

No word on how Gisele feels about all of this.