Dudes on Dudes with Gronk and Jules - Bill Belichick & Bills Parcells Stories

Episode Date: May 10, 2026

Bill Belichick and Bill Parcells former players give some of their favorite stories about Coach Parcells and Coach Belichick during their time in New England and beyondSupport the show: https://hoo.be/dudesondudesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me.

Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes,

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84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year.

I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to games with names. I'm Julian Edelman, and we got a brand new compilation highlight reel starting now. Now, Vince Wilfork and Julian Edelman exchange some of their favorite coach Belichick stories. One bone to pick, though. Uh-oh. Uh-oh.

I want to hear this one. Now, can you at least confess that Bill is way softer on fucking defensive. guys than offensive guys. And you want to know how I know because he would come up and ask us questions like on Wednesdays. He'd always, he'd always test us, right? He'd always test us both offense and defense in front of each other. He'd look over at me. Edelman, what, what coverage is this and this, this? He'd look over at V. A, V, what color is the team we're playing? No, that's not true. That's not true. I don't think. But see, we thought, because you got to understand, Bill used to come into our meetings.

When he leaves squad and all that, he would come in there with us and grill us. Yeah. So our question answering, he might not give it to us all in a team meeting, but he'll leave that meeting. When we break up an individual, he'll come in there and grill us with questions.

Hey, Big V, we're playing Derek Henry this week. Is this a run or pass team? He's just saying shit like, I'm not even joking, bro. I'm sitting there. They're asking us. scheme this, this, this? They're like, hey, is this team coach like to throw it

or run it? I'll tell you what, the first I'll tell you a funny story with Bill and me, right? So my rookie year, we, I think we in, we and many counts or something like that, and he's asking questions. And I mean, he's going around and he's asking, like, layup

questions, right? So he gets to me, he said, Vince, what is Memorial Day? So, I'm like, man, I don't know if there's a trick question. So I was like, barbecue. He said, no, you a-ho, what is it? I'm like, that's what we do, barbecue.

Man, when I tell you, Bill couldn't do nothing but laugh. He could do it because I'm like, what are you asking? I'm like, it's a trick question. What are you asking me? So he went on to tell everybody about Memorial Day and I'm like, hey, man. I'm like, be a coach. I thought you was asking me what we do on Memorial. He said, no, I know, you asshole.

I'm talking about that, that, that. I'm like, my bad. That was my first question from Bill. And that's how I answered it. The first question. And he had a little jolly smile. Oh, yeah. The smirk.

A little smir. A guy. Oh, asshole, you guys got to get out of. No, no. When he used to ask a grunt question, we would laugh. If grunt knew what or didn't know, we would laugh. And he would laugh. So it's like, he would.

But I truly believe it would. Bill, and when it came to me, I can truly think that I think Bill was testing me early on in my career on my knowledge of the game. I really was and I appreciate him so much for

doing that because he taught me so much about football in the game itself, you know? A lot of questions that he would, you got to understand, when I was a rookie, our defense line, we was in charge of knowing quarterback pivots,

the route tree, blocking schemes, cadence, motions. We had to know all of that. Which gives you an advantage because if you know the concepts, you know that the quarterback's got to get the full out. Formations, like, yes, we.

Which a lot of, it's crazy to me that teams don't do that. That's, but Bill stopped. I think we were the last class that came in that he did that to, but I think, looking back now, I think he was just basically trying to see how smart and my football IQ was because in Bill, my bill is thinking three, four steps ahead.

Yeah. He's like, let me see. I'm a test and see what he knows. And I proved to him that I know the game of football, you know. And I think that allows us to do a lot defensively scheme-wise with me knowing what's going on, not only from a defensive line standpoint, but, you know, the back end from the defense

and offensively what they're trying to create and build through formations. and this and that. So it was like not only we had, you know, the secondary, if it was Rodney or if it was deaf with the calls, you know, we had our linebackers with the calls. Now he have trust that, okay, I know Vince would be able to get calls out, get us lined up up front.

And it allowed us to play so much faster as a defense. And, you know, I credit all of that to build because how he taught me the game. I thought I knew the game, but, you know, sitting down, having a conversation with him, you know right away. Like, I don't know much about what I think I do. So I, you know, I always think all up because he meant a lot to me, not only in my personal life and the friendship we have and we built over the years, but as a coach, what he was allowed to coach and teach me, that's why I became the player I became.

And that's why I moved from nose tackle to a defensive tackle to an end and then knock and flop to go this side. So I didn't do, I didn't play a nose tradition like any other two gap nose because Bill had the luxury of moving, moving me in different positions and I can produce at those positions. So it just allowed us as a team in defense to manipulate a lot of play calling from my offense and start seeing the point, you know, because they never knew what I was going to be, you know? And a lot of it is common sense, though, which is, all right, take back. best defensive alignment put him on worse offense alignment, may not be in traditional spot, but that's weakness.

But then you win, you know what I mean? Like, well, you, but like, it's crazy. Like, I watch a lot of these defenses and I'm like, are we, I guess we're just that much smarter because I was out, I'm sitting here and I was talking Antonio Gates. We did a show together. And he doesn't realize that. I was in seventh grade when he was talking about the game that.

Right. he was playing. I'm like, I wasn't in this game. But the whole time he keeps on talking to me, how the fuck we lose these pictures? And it hits to me like, it's because we were, like what you're talking about.

We were the smartest football team by far. Yeah, yeah, we were. We always was. You know what I mean? Like, it wasn't just no, your position. You knew the rhyming reason why you were doing what you were doing. Yeah. It's a lot of times I lined up and I knew we had teams where,

first player of the game, I'm lined up somewhere opposite in those. Because office line was said. You know, I got a lot of old crap. Didn't realize I was going to be over there. So now I know, okay, now I'm playing with your scheme because everything you prepare for, it's not it. So now you have to go back to the drawing board and you have to figure out, okay, where events are going to be, what they're going to be playing. We thought it was going to be this.

But now, but, yeah, I remember, like, a lot of office alignment like, oh, crap, you over here? What are you doing over here? Yeah. The screw your play up. Simple as that. Now, a guy you played with on those defenses is now the head coach of the New England Patriots, Mike Vrable. Love it. What are your thoughts on that?

I love it. And the thing is, I had the luxury to be a player with Mike. And in Houston, he was a linebacker's coach. So, coach for Mike, I mean, play for Mike. And I always knew since the time our playing days that he was going to be a head coach. I always knew that. I mean, he was a coach. Like, no doubt in my mind.

that was going to happen. And I love that move because he's going to get the best out of everybody. Yeah. And he's very smart when it comes to the game of football. He knows exactly what he's doing. He knows how he wants to deliver messages. He's outspoken. If he believe in something, he believe in it.

If he don't like something, he'll tell you. I mean, he'll speak his mind. But at the same time, the respect that he receives is because what he pour out. So I think we're in good hands with Mike. I really do believe we're going to do some wonders this year. I mean, we're going to sell a different football team this year. And I'm expecting for us to shock a lot of people, you know, just because of I know Mike as a person and the player and the coach. I've already known him.

You know, I know it. And they spend money. Yeah, they're going to spend, guess what? He ain't for the hottest hand. If he wants somebody, he's going to let it be known. We need this player. I don't want him. We need them.

He'll tell him, you know, and that's what I love about him. He's a player's coach, but at the same time, he's disciplined. He's going to have a smart football team. Not going to make a lot of dumb mistakes. And they're going to play hard for him. They're going to play hard for him. So I'm excited about it. I'm happy that, you know, we did get Mike, you know, if that was the choice.

I love that we went and grabbed him because I think he'll do wonders for us. Yeah. You think these teams are going to look more like our old teams? Yeah. In some capacity, yeah. I think one of the main things we're going to get is the competitiveness and aggressive play. I think in a smart team, you know, so you're going to see, we're going to look, we're going to look apart. We're going to look like we know what we're doing.

You know, the past four or five years, we didn't look like that. You know, the past four or five years, you know what we looked like? We looked like teens we used to talk about. Yeah. Like, how you do that? That's how we used to look. I don't think we'll look like that. Special teams.

Yeah, we're going to be coached very, very well and hard. And we're going to play hard. What's the difference between Braves as a coach and a player? Really nothing. Really nothing. Really nothing. That's why when I played with him, he's the same guy as a coach thing when I played with him. You got to understand, I've seen him and Tom Brady go at it on the sideline or practicing.

You know, I've seen Braves walking out a quarterback's meeting with Tom. I've seen Ray and Tom walking down the hallway with a playbook talking about this. I seen Ray and Tom talking about scheme. I saw and I heard Ray tell Tom that would never work against this guy. I've seen it. So the respect Tom gave him for input in what he was trying to do. That tells you everything. What was the worst thing you ever heard Coach Frable say to Tom?

I mean, it got F you, F, you, no F you. Nothing was off limits. Yeah, F-bombs was always a part of it. He didn't care who you will. Bill get F-bombs. Brave, man, look here. When I tell you when Mike believe in something, he's going to stand firm in it.

And he's going to tell you why. That's what I love about it. Was he a smart shit-talker? Yeah, he was, yeah. So he, like, pulled something out of the cuddies. I've been on the field with a call come in and Bray's, he'll shake a head. This is not going to work.

I've been in the huddle with him. Or when we in the meeting room, that's not going to work. And he'll tell you why. He was so smart as a player. It was just, you would never believe that he was a lineback. The way he saw the game, he saw it as a head coach. Scenario, situation. He's seen it as a head coach as a player.

Now, this just popped it in my head. Do you think Bill liked Rabel more than you because he let him play offense and gave him a touchdown pass? That's one thing I regret with Bill. Like, come on, Bill. Like, and the crazy thing is, Pullback? But the thing is, he did see more, he let Seymour line up in the back field.

So I'm like, man, listen, no, no shade towards anybody, but I was the best, I was the best athlete on the defense. Hands down. Tell them. Straight up. I returned kicks in high school.

I kicked the ball in high school. I did, I played every position you could possibly name on, on the field. One position I would never play its center. But I tried it and I hated it. Yeah. But I played every position.

Like, I played basketball. I dunk basketball. I did all of that. I was the greatest pound-for-pound athletes on the pages. I mean, Jamie Collins pretty tight, but listen here, a guy my size to do what I did, come without for the play this.

I play lineback. I dropped in cover like I could do all of that. And you could dance. I could dance. Like a ballerina. I could dance. My footwork was good. That's what people don't realize you're 345 pounds and you could move like a ballerina.

So for me not to be on the offensive. side of the ball when I see a lot of guys, not just from us, but other teams, you know, putting their guys in the background that, you know, have some athleticism to them, you know, that was kind of bummed out for me. Now, would that be a perfect moment to use if Bill, you saw Bill, muffo? Oh, I hit him with that. Yeah, you motho. DT. You remember when it was Matt Kassel and Tom going back and forth? I wasn't around for that. Oh, my God. What happened? They was going back and forth. making each other. So I think Matt

filled Tom Carre for all of these little bubbles. The peanuts. The peanuts. So Tom took his tires. And hit him everywhere. And hit him at life. So he had three tires and still was looking for one. It was in the bubble. So Bill finally was like, look, guys, just stop screwing around. Yeah. You're putting too much playing. It's getting out of the trouble. Just kidding. So Bill had to put a stop to him. Man, he was going for weeks. He was going dude they were I mean I'm like dude when I when I tell you some of my most funnest times in

life is on a football field and in a locker room oh 1,000 you know what I mean so people always ask me do you miss the game I'm like no you know I miss my teammates in the locker room and the fans that's what I miss I miss the game itself I miss the camaraderie just hanging down in the locker room two three hours after we finished and just sitting down and drinking and getting ready and just hanging out in the locker room. Next, Kishon Johnson on the biggest fight he ever saw between Parcells and Belichick. Parcells ever have drills for the defensive guys? Yeah, they always had drills.

Like on how to carry the ball? I don't know if they did it. We used to do that. Bill would show those plays and say, look, asshole. Like, you're not. Look, asshole. We're not doing this. We're not doing this.

Hey, if you're going to do this, it better be the last play of the game. And we need. You know what I mean? It's just fucking funny. Oh my gosh. I would hate to be in the film room with Bill after if I had done that lateral. Oh, my God. No, it was crazy, though.

Crazy, man. And this game was crazy, too. Insane. That set up, Kishan's other touchdown. The end around, as we mentioned earlier. Is it eff reverse? Are you on that play? It was Bunch right, toss 38, Gator, Z reverse left.

The same fucking play. Yeah. That's incredible. So we would change formationally depending on personal. They started getting all that zip, zoom, snug, bullshit. later on. That shit, I had all that shit with Gruden punk ass.

Zip is just basically yeah, Taylor Zita got to come in to block. Yeah, or come half zip down because we would do that too. We would go bunch right, we would go bunch right zip tossed 38 gaiters.

So I would come and zip down and then come back around. Yeah. What's Gruden like as a coach? Let's get through this. Anyways, before the half, we get up 17-0 here. There's a little scuffle,

a little scuffle. before they have. You like to see that in playoff football. Jumbo Elliott and old Kevin Hardy. They were getting into it. Jumbo was big, man. I don't know what type of office in line. You play with, but he might have been one of the big, he couldn't walk through the door, man. He was one of them type of dudes. He was so big. Yeah, we had a couple. We didn't, we, I had one really big, who, Trent. Yeah, Trent Brown. Trent Brown was a large human. I think he was like six nine. But jumbo was a large human, but ripped up. Yeah. He had the little, you know how we used to. We had the V-Bron.

back in the day. Yeah. That's what he had as a line. I mean, he had the V. That's like crazy. We had a Nate solder. Yeah, I know Nate. Nate was really, like, he was 315 pounds with a six-pack.

Yeah, this is how Jumbo was. Yeah, you know what I mean? So there's just like Jumbo was cool, too. Big bone men. Jumbo was cool. That was one of my coolest offensive line homies I had. Heck, yes. No, it's so funny, ma'am.

I, uh, before you mentioned the halftime, before the half Jimmy Smith scored, I believe. Yes, 52-yard bomb right as the half was exposed. So I was supposed to go in the game. Oh. Be the safety.

The beat the safety. Wow. Barcells and Belichick got into it. And it was the craziest shit I ever seen on the sideline between two coaches ever. Because Belichick didn't want to put me in. Parcells wanted to put me in.

Belichick said no. And they went right up the rail. Bomb, touchdown. and then Parcells just lit his ass up. Oh my gosh. How was that relationship? At that time, I thought it was fine. It's great now.

They like boys and shit. Now, but at that time, I thought it was fine. I don't know the difference, right? He came back the next year. But that thing, my eyeballs, I was like, because I was standing there ready to go in. Yeah, you know the situation. You know, and he's like, no.

And Parcell's told him, at this time, Parcell said something to the effect of, you think you know every fucking thing. That's your fucking genius, huh? You think you know everything. That's why you fucking got fired from Cleveland. Yeah, that'll get it. That'll get the fumes going.

Shots fired. I was like this. Oh, shit. So when the situation came up again, I went in and got the interception. Yo. That was the craziest thing. The genius.

But I've seen Bill do that to the coaches before. Parcell's a type of coach that goes for neck. Oh, my God. He's going to go for kill shot. Man. Just to try to light that fire in your ass probably. Kill shot. I watched Bill get at.

I watched Bill get at Charlie Weiss at what time because you know how you do the cards? Yeah. The cards wasn't in sync. It was like all messed up. And at this time, Krispy Cream donuts had just became a big thing, came to the East Coast of New York. So we used to make all the younger guys go pick them up. Friday. Friday practice. Yeah, whatever.

Yeah, pick them up, put them out. Da-da-da-da. And Charlie would come to the players' lounge and get some. We know Charlie liked some donuts. He had messed up the cards one time. And Bill said, I bet you if those were these fucking cards or crispy cream donuts, you'd have got that right. Jesus. We was like, oh shit.

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Listen to IHart new music for 10 minutes. Enter to win. Every day is another chance to see Harry Styles. Very excited to see you with a show. Kiss all the time, disco occasionally available now. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win.

A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes,

creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment. And the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be.

Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast.

I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because. of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack.

So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your Next up, Tylaw compares the coaching styles of Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick, and Pete Carroll. What was the similarities and differences between him and Parcells and Pete Carroll? And was to you, and then you went to the Jets and you went to the Chiefs. How was his ship? How was that? Man, I'll tell you what, you know, coming in and getting... What made him different?

What made Parcells different is, you know... Bellichet. Well, I'm going to start with Parsons because we just as we drag. after me. So Parcells was the master manipulator when it comes to the mind. And like he'll make you so pissed off psychologically. You'll, you'll run and run through a wall. You want to

prove to him that. Bill Sims used to tell me crazy stories about that. He told me, he told me I was going to be the first, first round of NFL history you get cut in training camp. He's like, what the fuck is that line? You're going to be the, he called me to the side. He's like, listen, right now you're working on being the first, first rounder in the history of the NFL

to get cut in the middle of training camp. I'm sitting there like And my stupid ass You know at the time You know just being me from out I'm like well do what you gotta do You know come on I'm whoop all that head

Do what you gotta do Stupid you know what I mean But that's just That's what made GEU though That's just who I was You know what I mean And then eventually you know He was like

Man he was the best But he always rolled me And it was one particular game Where now I established myself As kind of physical and aggressive And he was like You know what You got everybody scared of you out there

all right but this week this guy's gonna kick your ass so he was talking about Michael Irvin we was going down to play the Dallas Cowboys and Michael Irvin I think he had just hit

you know and like said Annius Williams one of the greatest you know what I mean look up to Nia's trained with him but he gave he gave Nias to business

you know what I mean it was like nine catches or something like 200 something yards and shit I'm like damn so Parcells challenged me saying if he do that to Nias Williams

because he said you're damn sure know Aeneas Williams You know, that's what Parcellus told me. He's going to kick your ass, but guess what? I'm putting you on them. You know, you think you good. So, man, when I out there end up having two picks, you know, I think you get a defense player the week, all that stuff.

But I wasn't even thinking about playing, you know, Michael and the challenge of him. I was sitting there thinking I got to prove Parcell's wrong for fucking with me. You know, I'm going to show you that I'm not the one. And I had to take it out on Michael at the time, you know what I mean? But that's how my mentality was. but Belichick, you know, that's how he got the best out of you. Belichick, he's going to sit you down because he was my DB coach, which I loved, by the way,

because you had to do the least amount of studying when he's your coach because he doesn't did it all. Everything that he says is going to happen is going to happen. It's going to be one or two things. And what I really fell in love with the way he coached, he was my DB coach. We were playing the Saints. He said, look, if they line up in this formation,

tie it in here, guy on the, top of the numbers. If he's lined up on the top of the numbers, he's going to do a curl. And my thing was, I didn't want to be on the wrong end of highlights. What if you run a curl and go? He's not going to do it. If he run a curl and go, it's on me. So I said, shit, seen the formation is coming. Bam. Sure enough. He did exactly that. Came in, jumped in front of it, pick, and it was like, shit. So now, when we're moving, Belichick had you in such a great position mentally that you went into the game so confident and saying that if anything happens put it on him but guarantee this is going to happen and that's how he was as a coach so when he

left and came back we thinking like that's our boy man me and lawyer called him illegally i might add you know at the time because we ain't supposed to you know contact him and stuff like that but that was our guy that was our coach so when he came back man we were so happy and then when bill walking the Bill and we're trying to go do like the group hug type of he's a head coach now I'm like oh Bill doesn't got a new chuck and got brand new and shit but you got brand it ain't the same but now you have to realize and it took us a minute that he's not our coach anymore he's our coach and he has to sit there and you know treat everything and conduct itself in a certain way but what he does from a game plan perspective I've never been with another coach or

another organization that is that prepared at all times. And he made you feel comfortable. Even his adjustments, this is what we're going to do. Bam, you just got to be smart. In training camp, we will see shit that we ain't seen in eight weeks. We're going back to some training camp. You got to like, what? We ain't played that since training camp.

But for this particular game, or are we going at halftime? He comes back. This is what it is. So I think that separates Bill from everyone else. is his adjustments and how he looks at the game. You know what I mean? From offense defensively, he used to have to leave to help Charlie White's. He would leave our defense to me.

We'd been there by our damn self. Ain't nobody getting coached because he was just telling the offense what the other defense is doing. He had to leave the meeting so many times just to go up there and help the offense by looking at the defense. He was that much of a genius when it comes to a football mind. Pete Carroll? I like Pete.

Pete gave me the bag. He puts for me to get the bag. But he was a DB guy. But I think his personality didn't mesh well with a lot of other guys. Because we all interviewed. I interviewed because ain't anybody knows going to hire Belichick. I was like, man, I like Pete. So when they came down, Bobby Greer and all that gym, you know, scrap, I was like, man.

We went to the playoffs. I felt somewhat responsible because I gave up the touchdown. You know what I mean? I did. I gave up a touchdown. I was sick to who. I think it's one of the best ever when it come to me, you know, matching up. That damn Jimmy Smith was an animal, bro.

I just want to put that out there. So, but Pete Carroll, man, the happy-go-lucky guy that just didn't sit well with the rest of the guys. Because no matter what, come on, guys, don't you feel it? Don't you feel it? That rah-rah. Yeah, you know, he was raw-wrought like that. You know what I like it? You're coming from Parcells is to tell you about to get cut in the first fucking train, yeah, yeah, exactly.

This guy's smacking him. his gums saying it's going to be a great day. Yeah, exactly. It was a totally different energy, you know what I mean? And then you get back to Bill. He's in that similar similar, more similar to parcels. You know, and Bill, don't me wrong, he wanted, outside of

business, me and Bill ain't never had a problem outside of contract and business. You know what I mean? But you got to understand we're all independent contracts. You know that at the end of the day. We're on the team, but when we're talking about this and we have discrepancies about this, he has to work for himself in the organization. You have to work

for yourself as an individual, you know, as a eight, because, hey, it's short-lived, you know what I mean, but, and just that I'm about that. He'll go drink with you. He's going to have a beer with you. He's going to laugh, have a good time. And that's, you know, I mean, Bill's a computer where, like, if he's doing work, he's just thinking about work. And the one thing that he was always, that I always liked with Bill, he was honest with you.

Right. Which he would try to be a little overly honest just to prove his point on certain things. things. Look, I'm not going to pay you fucking $10 million. I don't mean. Yeah, yeah, yeah. $12 million. You're fucking $33. Yeah, yeah. You know, you're not going to be able to walk into it. Yeah, yeah. He will tell you that. He would tell you that shit. He'll tell you that, yeah.

But what you said about him preparing a team and saying it's going to be on me if it doesn't go this way, there are countless times where, you know, remember he'd have those team meetings because it was probably the same. and he'd give you the keys. Look, fellas, we just need to do this, this, this. And if we do that, this is going to happen. Right. We'd sit there, be listening to this shit.

And then you'd watch that on a Monday when you're watching film, everything that he said happened. Right. And exactly to how he said. Exactly. I'm saying he took that, he made it easier to do your job because he did all the hard work. A lot of guys don't want to study that film.

So you basically got a coach as a walking cheat sheet. You know what I mean? You can go ask him anything out of the blue. He going to already know what it is. I'm sitting there like, it's at a point where like, how do you know all that? You watched us. You hear offensive guys asking him stuff. And I'm like, how do you got time to do all this shit and know all this? He's a 100% of cheat sheet, but he's an asshole cheat sheet. But I loved him. Now, Nate Ebner shares something he was very nervous to tell Coach Belichick about. What's your best bill story? Anything with you and Bill? story. I mean, that takes me to the Olympics, honestly.

So, yeah, how does this conversation go? So obviously, you know, rugby was still in the background of my mind. I'm on the Patriots. I thought I would play in the NFL for two or three years and get booted and I'd go back to playing rugby. And here I am. I'm making it at work, right? We win the Super Bowl versus Seattle.

We come back, you know, 2000. And rugby got announced into the Olympics in like 2009. So it was always on my radar. Yeah. It's going to be in the Olympics. We all used to bust your balls about it, right? But we never, yeah. But we never, you know, we had to still qualify.

I didn't think all that. 2015 rolls around. We just won the Super Bowl. USA qualifies for the Olympics. And I'm like, oh, shit. Like, they're going. And at that point, I was obsessed. You know, we'd be in meetings and I'd be daydreaming about, you know, just Dyson.

Laku, Laku. Dyson dudes. Be a laku, laku, scissors. Caesar switch switchman um but no i i just kind of became obsessed with it and then in 2015 we made to the a c championship versus Denver you know obviously that game didn't go how we wanted 75 and sunny and uh within like three days and i was in a contract year so i was going into my second contract after that um i knew bill will be calling pretty soon and um you know eventually he does and we get the contract stuff figured out and I'm like I got to talk to him about this Olympic thing you know

I was really worried about it because like previously like when I was a rookie Jeff Demp's you remember him yeah he wanted to go to the Olympics and Bill was like any playing football if you go to the Olympics and he went and I think he actually was on the 4 by 100 yeah 4 by 1 100 but he never played football again after that yeah and I was like I got a good thing going here like I don't want to mess this up and you made plays though Jeff Dembs he never he never he was too too young he didn't have enough time in the program yet that's what I had seen from him I saw Bill say no and I'm like you know I'm not so sure so you know I'm worried about it but I call Bill we talk about how do you text him or you call him well he called me about the contracts so you have his numbers so hey what do you have him

saved as like coach B B B? Bill Belichick I just have my coach coach B yeah well you know whatever works for you yeah he won't anyway so he calls about the contract we get that square and then like I just remember at the end I just avoided it the whole conversation I was like so bill like there's this other thing I wanted to talk to you about did he know no and he was like no clue he had no clue to olympics were even fucking close yeah he probably didn't even know and then I was like he's like what what's up he's like what what do you got and I'm like so like rugby is in the olympics and the USA qualified and you know I feel like I got to go do this and I was like waiting for his response and right away though he was like yeah go ahead and it was just like what

go ahead and he's like yeah I mean I know how much rugby means you and you'll be representing the country if you make it and you know that'd be great go for it and I was just like well okay and we hung up and then like was you like is the contract still good yeah so so so so we hung up and then like an hour or two later he calls me back and he's like hey nay so this rugby thing it's not like you're going sailing I'll definitely forget it. It's not like you're going sailing. You know, we got to put some. It's not like you're going fucking sailing.

Exactly. That's better. And he's like, you know, we got to put something in your contract if something happens to you. And I said, absolutely. But I was at the point where I was expecting a no. And then I was like, I'm doing this anyway. And I was going to come back as a free agent. And to go with a contract, you know, you know, I just couldn't have been, I never thought it would work out that way. So I obviously end up going. And then, you know, just a piggy. back that while I actually made the team and stuff, we can talk about that if you want.

But when I played in the Olympics and Bill had you guys stop training camp to watch me in the team room, I mean, I want to know what your perspective was on that if you remember it. But for him to do that because I was one of the guys on the team and it was important and to stop training camp to do that and to have everybody wear the Ebner shirts out there, like Stevie B made up. I mean, and Mr. Kraft's support, just like the Patriots organization and that, like, brotherhood and support, like, first class, you know, they, they didn't have to do that. Bill didn't have to do that. No, without a doubt, that was so awesome.

I mean, we were so happy for you. So what was that like when he, because I'm obviously in Rio, so I wasn't, you know, there, but what do you just like? We just had, he, we did like one of those movie things. Yeah. I mean, where he got a bunch of food and shit. Yeah. We all sat in there and we watched it.

No one knew what the fuck we were watching, really. Half the dudes are and like, hey man, what the fuck this year? Yeah. No, that thing, D. You know what I mean? But it was fun. It was a team-building moment

to support one of our guys. And Bill was always really good about that, especially if it had something to do with support in America. Next, Phil Sims on his experience playing for Coach Parcells. You know, Parcells, that was his thing. He could connect with the player.

Oh. You know, he knew how to get the best out of his player. Like, he probably did this, that to Phil and treated Phil the way he treated him because that's what fires up Phil. Phil likes to be pissed off. He plays well pissed off. I don't know about that. And that's what, you know, Parcells tried to do. I saw a lot of that stuff too, you know, from Belichick with certain

people, you know. It's just they do whatever it takes to push the button to get the best out of you. Push him buttons. He was great. Yeah. So you trade some, you trade. But he would, Bill, here's that Parcells would do. I watched him during the week. you know, he would walk around the locker room and get a guy and go, all right, now listen, here's what I need for me this week. You know, you got to, you know, you got to come on in. And he would work the room like, you know, he had a restaurant. He would hit everybody individually just for 30 seconds and maybe say something.

You know, now you've got to play better. I don't want to take your ass out, you know, or, but he was very, if you want honesty, he was honest. Well, he's looking at every piece of the machine to make sure it, I mean, it's a big blue wrecking crew. Every, every piece has got to play. But he worked everybody. Yeah.

It was an unbelievable thing. It's the best skill I think a coach can have. Absolutely. It's to be able to do this to players to be tough on them and still, what's the word, not alienate them. No. And all that. They just knew this is what it is. And he's doing, you want honesty?

I'll play. I just want you to be honest. Do you really? Do you really want them? Yeah. Bill was honest. I saw him do this. I hate to tell these stories.

We're in training camp and we're doing an inside run thing. And we have a guard. I'm not going to say his game. He goes, I'll call him Billy. Billy, I got the plane ticket in my drawer. Don't make me give it to you. Come on. I got to see it.

Come on. I got the damn plane ticket in the drawer. And I'd just go, wow, that was really, like, that was rough. Yeah. He just, and he would give the guy two or three days and almost always, one morning we show where's so-and-so oh they let him go

but he would warn him if you don't pick it up oh no he never bluffed but I heard him do that quite a few times but he was warning the guy you know that if you don't practice better then it's just not gonna work here

the plane ticket in the drawer I got them I mean I can see it like my ex-girlfriend did the same thing to me did you no now now now Kishon Johnson on Bill Parcells

his unique leadership style. Parcells comes in day one. Is it just completely different? Oh, my God. He fired the dude at the front gate that was a security guard named Harry. Harry had been like the security guard for like however many years,

older guy. Bill got rid of him immediately. And so one of our linebackers named Bobby Houston was a starting linebacker. I started for the Jets, I don't know, four or five years in a row. Solid linebacker, like really good.

He told him if he wasn't at offseason conditioning he was going to get rid of him dude didn't come to offseason condition never played again in the national football league cutting never played again in national football league so mafia those coaches are mafia he started

he started the OTAs it used to be getting you had to get 40 days over like I want to say maybe a two and a half month period of time you had to get 40 days in and it was like you go a week maybe two weeks you're off,

then you come back a week, maybe off a week, you know, that sort of deal. And so when he came, obviously, I was one of the targets, right? Oh, he was one of the targets. So he calls my agent,

da-da-da-da-da-da-da. You need to do this, that. And so I'm like, my mother's paying him, fuck it with all that shit, man. You know, so now my agent go, well, he say, if you don't come, da-da-da.

I said, man, I want to be at home. My family, I can do the same thing here. He goes, you tell him, this is how he talks. He goes, you tell him, if he's not here on this such and such date, it'd be the worst mistake he ever made. So I go, I go, right? So now at this point, I'm probably a little overweight. You know, I'm probably a little overweight. I'm probably 225-ish somewhere in there.

He goes, I sit down in his room, I go in there, I'm in his room. he's got a dark room he's got one little light on like mafia like like you just said he's sitting there and we're talking he goes how much did you weigh I said shit I think I'm about 225ish he goes

what was that guy in the Rosebow said I think I was probably 2 10 maybe he goes that's the guy I want I said okay cool no problem so now I go home I come back go through the whole

off-season condition I'm 208 right so I'm looking crazy to him I'm fucking you know so now all of a sudden that's all I need it I'm made man now

for the rest of my life he got me for the rest of my life because I did everything he asked me to do you see what I'm saying yeah he asked me to do something for him

I did it like that and now you could say you could say one bad word about me in front of him, you're going to catch hell. You know what I'm saying? And so that's how I changed like that. And he's a, he, after my second year, after my first year with him in 97, although I'm on a

rookie contract, he tried to rip my contract up. But the management council with the NFL wouldn't allow it. They, we did the deal. We did. He was getting ready to make me at that time in 97. I hadn't even done shit. I had been fucking 65 catchers. He was going to make me one of the highest pay receivers in the NFL at the time.

We did the deal and everything. They sent it to the management council. The management council didn't want to set a precedent so they didn't approve it. That's how our trust and our loyalty became a bond like it is now. Wow. Yeah. So you gained Parcell's trust through cutting your weight. Yeah.

And then from that day on, because you did with you. Even at this day, I just talked to him another day. He goes, what's the number? I said, shit, man. I don't know. I'm probably 235. or something, you know, I just slimmer down a little bit. He goes, yeah, you look good, but I don't know if you're 235.

He looks like you got walnuts of your cheeks. I'm like, no, I'm good. I'm like, I'm good. Coach, I really, you know. He's, well, you're doing good, son. You just keep doing what you're doing, man. I'm proud of you. Because that's my guy, you know.

Yeah, that's kind of, you know, when I say it all the time, you know, when you're around a guy for a long time that changes you, like I was around Belich. It becomes like a fatherly figure. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I'm Luke Wilson. Join me each week for Film Never Lies. Since retiring from the NFL, I've had a lot of my mind and now, I've got my own show.

So if you're tired or lazy takes, if you want honest conversations, join us each week. Film Never Lies available on all TSN platforms in the IHeart Radio app. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds.

I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from Bats, basketball to college football or my career in sports media.

Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told,

and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking.

What the hell does George Bush got to do a little kill? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know.

I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed cracks. I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Next, Stephen Ridley tells a crazy story of Bill Belichick sending him to Fat Camp. Our weight room, walk through the locker room. room, go buy our meeting room, go down the hallway. And of course, I'm not really as scared or... Because you don't know yet. I don't know yet. That's what I'm saying. Like, I'm not as... You're naive. I'm naive. I think she can you go talk to Bill. Go talk to Bill. You know, like, can I not go talk to... What an idiot. I guess we'll start with how Bill put me in Fatt Camp, you know, like when I was overweight, coming in as a running back. And do you want me to go ahead

elaborate on that story. What is his back cam? Man. What is it? Heavy weights? Man. Did he bring in Ben Stiller, Tony? Tony Perkins?

Bro. It's one of those deals. Billichick says Tony Perkins right now. Man, you get to New England, and of course you're going in there, and it's Bill Belichick. Bill's intimidating, bro. Like, you got to give it to him, man. Like, he's, he knows what he's doing.

He's got a system in place, and you don't mess with him. You know what I mean? You just don't. Respective, you're in the presence of one of the greatest to ever do it, if not the greatest coach to ever do it. I'm going to give him his, man. He is because I play for a lot of ball coaches. But, you know, you have that meeting where you come in there and you're a rookie.

He gives you your playing weight. And he brought me into the office because I go to the weight room and coach Nash, hop on the scale, Ridley, and I hopped on the scale. How much was it? And I'm leaving. How much was it? About 235, 238, somewhere. What year is this?

Rookie year? It's my rookie year. You came in at 238? Came in. I played at LSU around 2.30. You know what I mean? Like as a running back. But 8 pounds is 8 pounds.

8 pounds is a lot, bro. 8 pounds is a lot. And you wait until the story gets going because y'all don't understand. What's the weight? What's the weight? So Nash gets in there, Coach Nash is our string coach. And he's like, Ridley, hop on the skills. I hop on the scale.

I don't think I was tipping that thing between 235, 240, SEC running back between the tackles. I'm a big bat. hey, I obviously did something right because coach you drafted me. You like what you saw. Nash is like, Ridley, you got some work to do. And I'm like, all right? You know, I ain't scared of work. Coach said you got to be at 220.

I said, 220. How? I said, Nash, you're tripping. I talked to you're tripping, bro. I said, nah. He said, don't ask me. I'm just telling you what the boss man said. And I said, well, which boss man we're talking about?

He said, you can go see the head man if you want to. there I went, you know what I mean? Like, what's the problem? I got to go talk to coach and see what's up because the reason. So you went from weight room. Yeah.

You took that long-ass walk down those hallways. To that entry door. And you saw Bears. Cross Berge's office. I said, Bears is Coach available? And I didn't think I was doing anything wrong. I might have been getting off to on the wrong foot with Bill Belichette

because here I am as a rookie walking into his office trying to tell him what my playing weight would be. But what do I know? I'm a rookie, guys. You know what I mean? I'm just coming in like, coach, come on. So Nash is telling me I'm 235 on a light day. 240 if I finish leaving the breakfast buffet,

eating my bacon and omelets and grits that I get every day. So he's like, we want you at 220 by a certain day. I can't even remember what he said. So I was like, man, that's impossible. I was like, there's no way I'm going to be able to do that. So I walked back. I said, all right, Coach Nash. I'm heading on up to go talk to Bill to see what's up,

see if I can kind of work this out. You thought you were going in there and negotiate a couple pounds. Go talk to coach. You thought you were ready to couple. Coach, you give me $2.28. Hey, anything. We meet it. Can we meet in the middle?

And y'all, when I tell y'all, coach is so. Paint the picture. You walk in. Where is he is? He at his desk at his computer? Okay. So I leave our wait room, walk through the locker room, go by our meeting room, go down the hallway.

And of course, I'm not really as, as scared or... Because you don't know yet. I don't know yet. That's what I'm saying. Like, I'm not as... You're naive. I'm naive.

This guy thinks you can you go talk to Bill. Go talk to Bill. You know, like, can I not go talk to... What an idiot! Hey, it truly, when I look back on things now... If I was walking by you in the hallway as a second year or third year guy, just like, what a dumb ass. I see you pass bears.

So I'll come down the hallway. You're saying all is to say you. I have seen... I want to get too far off track, but I've seen rookies, y'all, like on my back end, because I was there for four years. I've seen rookies come in and see Bill coming down the hallway, and they would literally, like, just bust the left or right into a random meeting room. Because they don't want to look this man in his eyes, bro. Yeah, it's true. Bill comes down the hallway.

I'm not making this up. Cut sweatshirt, hoodie on. Looks like he's been in his office for three days. His car hadn't moved. Like, people are like, freaked out. You know what I mean? So I didn't know what to do. I walk down there and I'm like, hey, bearish.

You can't get to bill without going through bears. But if you make that right into that office, you better have a damn good reason to go in there. And I had a damn good reason that day, Coach, because I can't drop all this weight how you're trying to get me to drop it. Let me show you all how much he cared. I walked in, I said, Coach.

And he's at his desk. He's at his desk. He's sitting at his desk behind his deck. I said, Coach could come in and sit down. He said, yeah, Rid, come on in and sit down. Okay. Did he know you were coming? or is he blindsided?

He was blindsided. Okay. He was blindsided. Bears let me in. You know, Bears check said, you know, Stephen's here to talk to you. Did you tell Bears why you were talking to him? Oh, I can't really remember those details, but I definitely. What did Bear did just, but here you go, sure.

Bears looked at me. I guess I walked in. I was like, Bears is coach available? And he kind of looked up. And I was like, I just need to talk to him real quick. I guess nothing. So Bill's sit you down. And when I walk in there, Bill's sitting behind his desk.

And he's like, come on in and sit down. So I walked in and sat down. and sat down. He's like, what you got, Rhia? So, coach, I need to talk to you about this weight. I was like, I just weighed in, you know, and coach Nash told me at the weight that you have told him that you want me to play at.

And I'm just making sure this is the right weight and this is not like a mistake. Like, and he said, what's the number? I can't really remember what I had. And I said, well, the number is. You could have gone right there. If you wanted to make the decision, you could have said 220.

Because if he didn't remember the weight, maybe he would have agreed at 225. All right, you messed up. Go ahead. I should have had a better negotiation tactic as though what Jules said. But I'm just in there trying not to die and starve myself out at this rate. So I go in and I say, well, coach, this weight that you want me at, I said, Coach Nash said, you want me at 220. And I said, that's impossible. So I'm just telling you right now.

I don't know what it is. And I said, I don't know how you want me to get there. I said, I'll bust my ass and do whatever, but I'm like, 220. I said, can I just tell you a little bit about me? Like, he doesn't already know. You drafted me. The Patriots investigate everybody. They know everything about you before they even get you in the building.

So I said, coach, uh, what did he say when can I tell you about me? I said, can I tell you about me? And, uh, he was like, sure. You know, he's just dry. You know, he's not too much. I pulled out my driver's license and I pulled out my driver's license. It's true story. I pulled out my driver's license.

I said, coach. Coach Cee, look, look, I'm 240. I just want to show you this. I said, coach, and I promise this true story. I said, I just want to tell you, like, if you can look at my driver's license, I slid it on his desk, you know, I'm bold as a rookie. He's like, what is this clown? You know what I mean?

I said, these numbers that are on my driver's license are from when I got my permit in high school before I even got a driver's license, my permit. And on my permit at 15 and a half years old, I was 5-11, 220 pounds. That's how much I weighed in high school. So I said, coach, you mean to tell me that you want me to drop from 238 all the way down to 220? And he looked at me and he said, kind of smack those lips. Well, Red, I mean, really, I think it's only about $563 per pound per day that you're

overweight. So it's really up to you. And I said, what? I'm like, what, what do you mean? He was like, per pound per day. And he doubled down on it. I was like, I can do quick math, bro. I'm third round drive pick.

I ain't got money like that. So Fat Camp I went. You know what I mean? I'm like, screw it, coach. You know what I mean? If that's how we're going to go about it, there's nothing I can do. So what's Fat Camp until? So Fat Camp consisted of me coming in once I had to drop from 238 to my weight.

when I was 15 years old of 220, it required me changing my diet with our beautiful nutrition, Ted. First, Ted put me on this strict diet. I had to come in the fat camp, which was running before practice. So we had to come in and either do our workout what, like before practice in the mornings or we had to go and do our workout after practice once we got off the field. I was always an early riser, so I came in early in the morning. So fat camp, I was basically in there with all the guys who were overweight that we're trying to cut weight. So I would have to go in every morning. I'm talking about it's still dark outside, 5 a.m.

And just hit the treadmill and run. And so that was the first time that I really, I think the structure, and I look back on that, I'm like, that structure and that discipline, it made me a good pro. Because I legit drop this weight for the simple fact that I was not going to give up my money. And let's do the math. If I'm 238 and the weight is 220, let's do that times 563 bucks times 18 per day. my paychecks are going to be pretty thin. You know, the Massachusetts state taxes weren't too forgiving.

You know what I mean? I don't need to be giving away any extra. 8.3 now, right? 6.8. It used to be in there's some new shit. Something crazy. So I got on board with the program and coach didn't really like yell at me or nothing like that. But I don't know if I kind of rubbed them the wrong way from jump.

But it was just like one of those deals, it shook me up as a rook. I'm like, how in the hell am I about to drop 20 pounds or 25 pounds? and you want me to run between the tackle, bang it out with the Brandon Spikes of the Worlds and the Giraud males of the world, linebackers at 255. Were you better at 220? Quick as a cat, man.

Freaking nasty, dude. Once I got to that playing weight, I'm like, hey, you know, Bill knows what the hell he's talking. Who else was in Fat Camp with you? I think Big Marcus Cannon was in there early, y'all. Cannon used to cheat the first. fucking scale. Remember that? One time Marcus Canan, he used to have to

weigh in all the time. He was always in fat camp. He was just a big boy though. Probation all the time. Shoot. And he would go in and he would do it with a towel on his weight and then he'd have a pencil right like here so he could leverage himself

up. Huh? Huh? You can lean on it? Yes. He could lean on it and lift it up. And he would fucking make it they caught him like three times. He was in fact camp like his whole career. It's a grind, bro, because people don't really realize. It's like, man, once coach sets this, you know, coach that didn't just start coaching.

It never goes up either. No, that is your weight. So my four years in New England, I played at 220. But, bro, I never was like a top end guy. I never had like breakaway speed. So I always pride of myself on living by five yards of carry. Like, if I get five yards every time I touch his pill, that's halfway to a first down, I can bang it out with whoever.

DB, safeties. I used to hit those motherfuckers like speed bumps, bro. Like I wasn't even worried about it. I was just downhill with it. But once you got to the league and you had to lose that weight, you know, you became more of a pro.

You know what I mean? And so Bill went back. And after we didn't get the negotiation the first time, I think it was about halfway through the season. I'm like, coach, can I get a couple pounds? Give me a little bit here or there. He still didn't lighten up.

But it was just like I learned to respect that, bro, don't question. just do. You know what I mean? Because it made me a hell of a running back. It really did. And I would have never been there. I never even thought about playing that like, because I didn't think I had to pop behind my pads to be a first and second down back and a short yardage back like I was, but I was wrong. I can say that. He's probably at that point in his career, seen about a thousand of you. Yes. Yes. And that was the weight that he wants to make. He's seen the hers show while. He's seen them all. You know, I brought that, I brought that southern flared to the locker room.

You know what I mean? Like, we believe coming out of LSU, man, it was like, you look good, you play good. You got to be swacked out. You know what I mean? You got to have some good tunes and have the energy going. So I used to pull up the game day in the Hummer, you know what I mean? Subs going, beating the block down, hollered my people at the game. Oh, what's all right?

And it was just always good. You're doing a donut in there for the crowd. Hey, that's another story, too, man. Hey, remember when we had the big snow, you don't remember us. We had the big snowstorm. Yeah, and we were all just ripping donuts in the parking lot. I do that every snow. It crashed in the markets, can it?

Did you? Before the game. Before the game, we're out there just going nuts. Before a game? I do like on a Friday when there's no one in there. I think it was like before. I want to say it was before the game because we had the snowstorm. We're taking those back roads, you know, where you go through Foxborough, you know,

you had the little houses and everybody was like, live next each other. So it's like a caravan. All the boys were taking the back roads to get to the stadium. So I see this parking lot that hadn't been hit, no tread, no track in there. I'm like, fresh pal. her whip a right right there in the Hummer and there I go I'm smashing on it. And there's doing donuts out there. And the funny thing is I remember it clear as day.

Wes Welker's house in the backyard and Canada, I'm doing donuts out there. And all of a sudden you see Marcus Cannon come over the hill and his Toyota Tundra ramps over the hill. And he's got pipes on his and he's like, and we're spinning out there and hitting them just having a blast until, of course, we lose control. and I hit cannon and boom smack it. And when I smacked it, I looked over

and I swear, you see the blind slide over like this? And Wes stuck his head out there. And he was like, oh, y'all fucking idiots. And he just closed the blinds and went on by his business. Because I really want to say it was either like before game or after game, but I remember seeing Wes with a big old blue eyes.

You know what I'm saying? Like, he's looking out the blinds. It's like, man, I didn't know if it was a neighborhood of West. Like, oh, y'all are fucking idiots, dude. It was funny. But hey, we're having a good time. But that was our Foxborough days. So basically, that story just told me that when Bill tells us before training camp,

don't drive like a fucking idiot in Foxborough, he was talking to you? He was talking about me. Okay. He was talking about me. He was. Now we got Matt Light's hilarious prank on Bill Belichick. And Bill's kind of pissed off. Yeah, what did you do?

I heard that story once. You went into his office and what did you do? So I had this remote, right? And again, this is back in the day when this stuff didn't really exist, but I was always surfing in that. And it was a mouse, and it plugged in, actually. But it didn't do anything when you plugged in. You couldn't actually control the mouse.

But there were, I don't know how you get this much energy out of two AAA batteries. But those two AAA batteries, when you hit that mouse button, it would send, like, Jesus through your body, like, real quick. And so he was in a staff meeting. It was in training camp, and nobody was there. So I slip in. I'm on my way out. They're still working really hard trying to make us better.

And I go in there and I put that thing on his laptop on his desk. I come in the next morning, he's not dying next killing me. It's like to start train camp. I'm not even thinking about what I did the night before. And Bearers is like immediately when I walk in, he's like, not good. Like seriously, like, and you can see in his eyes. The Bear's. The Bear's not good.

And I'm like, what? But I know what? I know what he's saying, right? But I'm like, what are you talking about? Denied to you die. And he's like, just telling you, it's not good, man. What happens is not good? And I'm like, hey, look, I can't play this game right now.

I got to go get ready. So I walk into the meal room. And when I walk in there, Maddie P is just got some toast or something. And he turns around and he sees me. And he's like, you're an idiot. And I'm like, what? I'm like, you two? And he's like, hey, man, he's fired up.

And because of your dumb ass, we spent like two more extra hours here last night. And I'm like, for what? And he goes, well, he goes, I know it was you. And when he shocked himself the first time, he had his hand off the keyboard. The second time, his hand hit the keyboard and it deleted his notes. You know how he takes notes every single day? Of everything. Everything.

Like, hey, by the way, this is crazy, man. Here's a great example. Let's say we're playing the Jets and it's Monday afternoon. So we're playing a divisional game, right? we're coming off a loss on the road and we have two key players on defense that went down. He'll go back in his notes and do keyword search or something and he'll find a scenario that mimics that almost to a T

and then he'll look and see how did I address the team? Did I go hard on them? Did I take it easy on him? Did I push him? And how hard did I push him? Did we practice a certain way? What was the outcome? How did it come out?

All that stuff gets analyzed, man. That's the craziness and the craziness and the complexity that a lot of people don't realize. I don't know how much that weighs in his success or whatever else, but that's who he is, right? So when, now, by the way, first time he didn't have his hand on the keyboard. Second time he shocked himself, he did,

and it closed out of program. The way I look at that is you're an error repeater. The first one was my fault. Second one, that's your fault. Now, we didn't talk about that, but I will say this. When he lost that, that was not a good day because it wasn't like auto save, apparently.

So all of his notes for that, day apparently went bye-bye and what I thought was real so I wanted to go get my mouse but I left that thing in there buddy once I heard about that one I was like yeah that thing's gone what did he say to you he I mean literally he said something like I mean he stopped me and by the way Bill's kind of like Tommy like I have no idea how Tommy got from one meeting room to the next I don't know if he floated in the atmosphere he like like became particles and just reappears like in weird places obviously he didn't shower Tommy never showered never Nobody ever saw him in there.

Weird. Well, actually, I see him a couple times. He'd have the two shower heads on him. Remember you would be in the corner sometimes? Rarely. And he would do two shower heads. I'm like, dude, you have two showers? I know.

And neither one of those heads wanted to be pointed to him. No. Seriously. Like the water was like, he's hydrophobic. Like water doesn't like him or something. You got to think about it. He probably goes to like his sick home where he's got like hydrogen based water. No, listen, I think he has to wash him every day.

I think so, seriously. It's Alex. Alex Guerrero, yeah. Little tiny hands. So what did Bill say? Hey, man, he was fired up. He basically told me, if you go in my office again, I will kill you. And, of course, I denied it.

I'm like, coach, what are we even talking about? He's like, you know exactly what we're talking about. I really don't. I said, but I'm going to get some food here. I'll see you in the meeting room. But it was weird because Maddie P came at me and so the Bears. and I thought they were like flipping it on me, right? Like, oh, we're going to make him think that, you know, coaches really fired up.

No, because Dante was the last one. Because you know Dante doesn't mess around. Dante was real matter of fact. What does Scar say? He's like, I don't think that was a good idea. You probably shouldn't go in the head coach's office. And I'm like, you too? I'm like, I don't know what you're even talking about.

So did you deny it till day, to forever? Forever. But that's the, so again, we didn't have a conversation about it. It wasn't like at some point he came to me. It was like, hey, that shit was kind of fun. You got me if that shit hurt. You know, like, I'd be cool to acknowledge any of this. Like, hey, Bill, remember that email you sent me?

Like, that was funny. But there's a part of me that believes, like, what he reiterated on his concluding remarks email that he was kind of serious. You know what I'm saying? Ted's serious. Bill used to, he was notorious for fucking quizzing us on spot. And I could have sworn Matt Light was sleeping in a meeting.

And Bill tried to catch Matt. And he goes, Matt, you got all the fucking answers. Exactly what he said actually. I was just going to say that. Matt, you got all the fucking answers. What coverage is that? And you hit the coverage.

What was it? Like two blitzone, two C? It was like, the square root of a sussly's triangle is equal to the opposite. I'm like, and everybody turns around and they know I sleep. Like you know I sleep. I slept through every meeting. And I don't, honestly, my wife was like, you're going to get fired like my first year. I remember Dante Scarnacia, my line coach, would make me stand up in the

meeting room when we had our offensive line meetings and I would fall asleep eating a candy bar trying to stay awake eating a candy bar fall asleep standing and he would be like like if you if you fall sleep one more time I will kill you and I'm like oh man like I'm a rookie I didn't know what was happening on that one though so this is the greatest right so notorious sleeper copen would kick me he sat right behind me he would always feed me the answer too because I have fuck I don't know what bill just said I was asleep and so and by the way like football like like yes, we're a bunch of Neanderthals, but like, I don't need to watch that 700 times. Like, all we do is sit and rewind, watch, rewind, watch.

So on this one, if you think on that season, we had a bunch of young guys, and defensively, as you know, the defense could get everything. You know, Bill would be like, all right, look, you know, what are we expecting? You know, he'd be talking to the offense in this situation. What are we expecting them to do? I mean, it's third down. We're in a red zone. I mean, you know, we got, you know, whatever. We got trips.

You know, and he'd ask somebody a question, and it'd be like a really difficult question. and we would come up with an answer that's pretty good. He'd be like, oh, I'm not, what the fuck? You know, that's not what they're going to do. I mean, God damn it. You know, have you watched an ounce of film? And then he would go to the defense and he'd be like, all right, guys, like, what's one plus seven?

And they'd be like, uh, six and a half? And they're like, oh, that's pretty close, pretty good. All right, now I'm moving on. I'm like, what are we talking about, coach? Like, those guys have no idea. What color are their jerseys? Right. Like, he would give some fucking terrible, he'd give the easiest questions these fucking

defensive guys. And they always got a pass. Always. So I'm listening to this and I'm like, these cats have no idea. And Bill's kind of pissed off. Like we had a couple weeks of coming in and I want some answers. It's a Wednesday morning, right? And you better have my answers, right? Well, they weren't having it.

So I go on my way out. I don't know why. I just had this epiphany. And I walk into coach's office, which is always awkward. Like, you don't go in there just to go in there. Oh, no. And you got to pass bears, the little man purse right there, at the front, right? And I love bears, but, you know, so anyway, I go in there,

coach is working at his computer and he looks up at me. He's like, you know, like, there wasn't a question. It was just like a, you know, and I'm like, uh, and I'm right then immediately, I'm like, why did I do this? This is not going to be, I'm like, coach, hey, listen, I'm like, these guys don't have the answers. They're not coming in with stuff. I said, I thought it'd be funny if like, you know, next time we do this, like on the next Wednesday or whatever, you, you throw me some questions and I'll just rattle them off. It'd be. like shit that even Brady wouldn't know. And he's like, you know, all right, well, what are you thinking? And I'm like, well, you know, like, you know, you say something. Then I, I rat off an answer.

Then you try to hit me with another one, try to catch me slipping. And I'll just keep rat on them off. And all the guys are going to, and that way now they're going to know, like, I got to get in the film room. I need, if light knows this shit, then I really need to do a little bit more studied. And it fell on deaf ears, dude. He was just like, I don't know, look. I mean, you know, like it wasn't like a, hey, that sounds like a great idea or that's really stupid. It was just like indifferent. So I walked out of this. thinking, that failed. Three weeks go by it. I'm walking in and bears like, hey, Bill wants to see it. I'm like, oh, snap, what did I do? Like, I totally forgot about the whole conversation,

right? And I'm not kidding. I walk in his office and immediately he goes, all right, look, you know, I'll hit you with, you know, what they're doing in a third down. And then I'm going to talk to you about, you know, when we get into the red zone, you know, what that looks like. And then the last one I'm like, and he rattles off these three questions he's going to ask me. And I'm like, okay. And I'm like, what's the answer? Like, I have no idea. I have no idea. You're speaking like Swahili. I have no idea what you've been referring to, Bill. And he's like, oh, well, so I grab a pen and I start writing the answers on my hand.

And we go in, team meeting kicks off. And he starts off with his typical, I mean, you know, in the category of what we're not looking for. And it's some Bengals, you know, problem with some guy getting arrested at a strip club or something. Always a Bengals player, right? I swear to God, always a Bengals player. And then he looks at me. That's how we learned the Bengal formation. The F was all the way in the inside because he was in jail.

In jail. Yeah, easy way to remember that one. So when he asked me, when he says exactly what you said, all right, like, you got all the fucking answers. All right, here we go. What are they doing this? And I literally just rattled it off immediately. I remember I could hear the air come out of Copen.

He's like, shit, he's awake. And I didn't even know that one. So the next one he throws out there, I immediately answer that one. And the third one, I'm like literally looking at my hand, of course. And so when it's done and we leave the team meeting room, I remember the guys coming up to me and they're like, what the fuck? I'm like, hey, dude, just get in a film room.

You know, like, I didn't acknowledge the fact that Bill and I set that up. And, you know, here's the best part, Jules. I've never had a conversation with Bill about any of the funny stuff that's ever happened between him and I. Thanks for listening. Remember to tune in every Tuesday for a brand new episode and every Sunday for another games with names highlighted. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite on humor me with Robert Smygle and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman. help make you funnier.

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