Our Bleepin’ City – Drew Bledsoe: The Birth Of a Dynasty

My interview with New England Patriots Hall Of Fame quarterback Drew Bledsoe. We talk about everything from his upbringing in the small town of WallaWalla, Washington to his rise to fame in New England as the catalyst to the Patriots Dynasty after being the top pick in the 1993 NFL draft. #ForeverNE #TheDynasty #DrewBledsoe #PatsNation #OurBleepinCity #newenglandpatriots #NFL #patriots #Dynasty #doubleback #Dynasty @patriots @NFL @NFLFilms

It looks like it’s going to be quarterbacks Drew bledo Rick Meyer onew how onew who would you pick one Joe how one two I would probably if I was New England I would take Rick Meyer the reason I would take Rick Meyer is because I think that he could sell

Tickets in the New England area to the Notre Dame fans as far as their athletic ability goes both these young men compare very favorably I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s Dro bledo throws the ball a little bit quicker gets it out a little bit quicker the Patriot select Drew bledo quarterback Washington State

University now there’s Drew blitzo young man from Washington State joining me today I’m it’s such a pleasure to welcome in in my opinion probably the most influential player in Patriots history the man that turned this franchise around the 1993 number one pick and Pat Hall of Fame quarterback

Drew bledo Drew thank you thank you so much for joining me today welcome to the show Absolutely man no I appreciate it that was I uh you’re you’re overly kind but uh it was a that was a cool time to you know to be a part of those teams

Back in the early 90s because we went from being pretty bad to being pretty damn relevant and uh there were a ton of us there were just young guys on those teams that you know we weren’t really focused on trying to do some cultural change we just trying to win a few games

Uh but looking back you know those teams that I was that I got to be a part of you know really did change you know the trajectory of the organization and uh uh now looking back at something I know that all of us wear as a badge of honor

I remember back in my childhood I couldn’t even watch a home game because we couldn’t even sell out the stadium so right even your rookie year uh the that final game of the season the dolphins that great comeback where you knocked him out of the playoffs that game wasn’t televised here

So my memories of that game were were uh from listening to Gino and um who was the other guy yeah Gill and gin yeah yeah exactly yeah no uh yeah like I say you know we um you things things changed and it became something then when Robert

Craft bought the team in 94 uh that was that was like the uh the one last big piece of the puzzle to have a a local owner that really did care and does care about winning you know which surprisingly we’re just I was just talking about this with some some other

You know football guys recently um it’s kind of surprising you would think that every professional sports owner would be motivated by winning first and it’s actually not the case you know because it be pretty lucrative if you decide you’re just not going to pay your

Players um you know you you uh you know you still get all the TV dollars and you know you can lose games it’s almost like uh you know like the movie Major League you know inally intentionally try to lose you make more money but Robert CRA you

Know is and always has been a fan first uh and so when when he bought the team that that that continued to put us on a different trajectory entirely well I I wanted to get to that because most people most of the people that have enjoyed the success and and only

Remember the Glory Days don’t realize that you actually played for the the owner or you were drafted with the owner that came before craft uh James B orwine yeah Jim orwine yeah and uh his his mission was to move the Patriots to St Louis before before the Rams went out

There so uh how worri were you that that that you might end up there well I mean you know I was too man I was I was 21 man I was just trying to you know find my way I didn’t get to think about the big picture stuff so uh and at that

Point you know we’ only been in New England for a year and and hadn’t really put down Roots yet so for me it was like okay well I guess you know we’re going to go to St Louis but but boy am I glad in in retrospect and I know that

Everybody is uh that uh that that Robert Craft and his family came in bought the team kept us in New England and um you know and then beyond that you know allowed the team uh the financial stability and flexibility to uh to really become a great franchise so uh

Yeah there are a lot of lot of things a lot of reasons to to be thankful for for the craft family you know otherwise would have been the St Louis Patriots which I don’t even know how you make that you know not only that wasn’t it was the Hartford almost you guys almost

Moved to almost almost went to Hartford as well and yeah so there were lots of potential moves but ultimately you know under the the stewardship of a great owner uh we’re able to stay right right there in Foxboro so has football always been your first level is that your sport

Growing up or did you play a bunch of sport I played everything man I think sixth grade I think I played six different sports in sixth grade I was a swimmer uh um you know track baseball basketball I actually wrestled if you can believe that skinny bean pole of a kid that uh

That that wrestled and then uh my first love always was was snow skiing actually really I was on skis from the time I was two years old matter of fact he got me in trouble with the with the boss um they were working on my second contract

And I had made the mistake of coming back and telling him about this amazing helicopter trip I took my dad on uh and you know being young and naive I just like that’s not a big deal well he looked at me kind of funny and then of

Course in my next contract there were some very some very clear language about how much money I had to pay them back if I got hurt snow skiing so uh but uh yeah no and then uh and then football my dad was a football coach so I grew up on a football field

So when you ask if it was my first love it certainly was it was my favorite my favorite sport but it just wasn’t first I didn’t get to play organized football until seventh grade wow wow I I had to play I had to play soccer if you can

Imagine that you know wow watch me watch me play football you can imagine that soccer was not it was not my strong suit so had vinary gotten injured you may have you know told parcel’s I got these extra points boy that would have ended very poorly we would have we would have just

Gone for two yeah did did they even have the two-point conversion when you first started no that started uh that started during my career um I want to say that that was maybe maybe might have been 94 I think that sounds accurate yeah and um little known trivia question for your listeners out

There who scored the first two-point conversion in NFL history wow there’s there’s actually a it was not me but there was a tie back there’s a tie in back to the past the only reason I know that uh is that the first two-point conversion ever was Tom Tupa being our back backup quarterback

And and and puncher but he scored the first two-point conversion playing for the Cleveland Browns he was holding for an extra point they ran a fake and uh he ran it right up the middle for the first ever two-point conversion so there’s your there there’s your sports trivia

Learned something new every day I thought I knew most things about Drew’s career and people he played with but I didn’t know that one so that that’s pretty that’s really cool yeah all right so growing up I know you had mentioned we talked before you first kind of knew

You had it around you said I did you attend a camp around 16 and you just were throwing laser beams all over the the field and and the instructor was like what what’s going on yeah no it was uh it was my dad and his buddy ran a

Football camp every summer so I grew up running around chasing these guys but they would always bring in um a couple of Pros uh to come in as as coaches and counselors and to take pictures and all that stuff and at that point um I think

I think I was a sophomore in high school Neil Lomax um who was a quarterback at that time for the Cardinals um was out and he was throwing afterwards uh you know kind of just doing a demonstration for everybody and uh I got up and I was

Throwing with him and uh you know it was it was going it was going pretty well and and uh I was saying I was I was I was I was slinging it around pretty good to the point where finally Neil actuallyy he asked me to sit

Down okay he goes okay I got okay I got this because he didn’t like me look bad kid yeah I didn’t like the fact that this 16-year-old kid was uh and I think he had gone to the Pro Bowl that year and he didn’t like the fact that this

16y old kid was up there throwing with them so when did the recruits uh the the college recruits I was we were just having this conversation because it’s so crazy now man you got these kids as young as like I don’t know 12 13 14 years old that are

Uh that are committing to schools and that stuff did not exist back in the the late 80s um you know in order to in order to get uh and I would you know it was a small little school it wasn’t like I was in a big city where you know there

Were coaches around all the time so I had to like we would put together VHS tapes and back back in the old days where you take this tape to this tape a lot of your younger listeners are not GNA even know what I’m talking about create these tapes and then we

Would send them around to coaches and uh you know that was how we tried to uh to to get noticed um and then um you know my top four schools Washington Washington State Stanford was it was uh was probably the third one and then I took a recruiting trip down to the

University of Miami I knew there was I knew there was no chance I was gonna go to the opposite quarter Jimmy Johnson then no it was Dennis Erikson and the reason that Dennis knew about me is he had been at Washington state which was right right next door for us right right

And then he went down to to Miami so he was aware of who I was I don’t think anybody had you know any misconception that I was going to go you know 3,500 miles away from home to to play football but as a you know the kid in Walla Wala

Washington I was not turning down a trip to South Beach in the middle of the winter time so I definely and but you know really that the stuff really you know back to the previous topic I mean the stuff really didn’t pick up seriously until my senior

Year really um and uh that’s when coaches could come around and see you and that’s when uh um you know that’s when it all kind of happened and then made my decision I think it was February uh of my senior year um you know when I

Um decided where I was where I was headed and chose to go to Washington State and loved every bit of it but but man the process now man these kids you know everybody’s got their huddle their huddle highlight video out on social media and they get a million views and

Get all this stuff and it’s uh and then you uh then you throw the the nil stuff the money into the and uh it just becomes an absolutely crazy thing that’s that’s really kind of hard to Fathom being you 15 16 year old kid and trying to navigate through all

Of that stuff uh it’s it’s pretty heads spinning almost creates a whole new set of issues there right giving wild bestest man they went from a bad system that was completely broken to uh a system with absolutely no rules it’s really seems like there’s there’s there’s there’s some midg ground

In between you know a super restrictive unfair system to the athletes and no rules there I think there’s a little ground in there somewhere that hope hopefully they find one of these days so uh can can you tell our listeners you played here in Boston a crazy City where

Just fans live and die with the teams but Walla Wala totally different landscape um a lot more laid-back what were sports like there growing up I mean I’m sure yeah you know was is interesting because we were you know we were certainly or at least we

Thought we were you know fans of our of our local teams and fans of our local colleges but you know in the in the Northwest it was like you know You’ go cheer for your college team on Saturday or you know maybe cheer for the Seahawks on U on Sunday baseball the Mariners

Always sucked so you know it really wasn’t really wasn’t that big a thing and there certainly was no hockey in the Northwest but um but it was like you know You’ go cheer for your team and then uh after the game you know you’d kind of just move on with your life and

You you know then you wait till the next week man when I got back to Boston I was like oh wow man these people are serious about this stuff you know it is non-stop uh almost more of a religion uh in some ways than a Pastime or something that

You watched uh and it was really cool but it was so different culture shock I back then you com find out you know I was when I was growing up you know we had one newspaper even in college really had one paper that that covered us

Regularly and then all of a sudden you you know four or five papers in the in the New England area that are that are cover everything and and uh yeah it was a totally different world but uh man it was fun to it was fun to learn and fun

To to try to navigate through all that stuff and U ultimately to really uh you know buy into it and become kind of part of that culture was really really cool and something that I still totally appreciate when when I get to make trips back to uh back to New England it’s it’s

Really really fun now going into the draft Pat Pat’s obviously had the one pick and you were by all the pron uh you know milk hypers were saying it’s gonna be Drew did the Patriots let you know that or did they kind of let no they didn’t man parcel’s played his he played

His card super tight really yeah it was it was it was me and my and my good buddy Rick Meyer were the yeah we were the consensus top two picks that year um and both of the top two teams were were going to take quarterbacks the Patriots

And the Seahawks um and um I didn’t know I didn’t know for sure that I was the the number one pick until Paul tagliaboo announced it on draft day you’re kidding you know now I knew I wasn’t gonna have to wait long because if I didn’t go

There I was gonna go to the Seahawks and Rick ended up going to the Seahawks uh but yeah no he played his cards super tight you know in previous years back then uh and I don’t know if it’s still the case today but in previous years and

I think in years following you know the number one overall pick kind of already had their contract negotiated everything was done before before draft day in many in many instances and I didn’t know until the very last minute that um um that I was it was actually going to be

New England okay so there was a little bit of stress involved on draft day for for you oh it was it was just a crazy experience man it was uh you know we flew out for the draft and that was the first time that uh I just have my one

Brother uh it was the first time that um both the two of us and my parents were on an airplane together you’re kidding we flew back for the raft uh went back to New York City you know walking around looking at the tall buildings like York

You know like it was just small town people walking around in uh in New York City and then so it was uh yeah it was it was a crazy time uh but man it was just just a cool adventure uh was really really cool all right you get picked by

The Pats you’re in the you know the Big Show Now You’re rev at Foxboro you’re probably expecting you know this big you know kind of like what they have at at Patriots Place now you get there what were you thinking uh it was it was really kind of

Head spinning to be honest with you because you know playing at Washington State you know we were probably at the bottom tier of the pack 10 at the time um which the became the Pack 12 now is the pack two but that’s a different different conversation but you know we

Were kind of the at the bottom end of the uh the Pack 12 and our facilities were infinitely nicer than what they had at Foxboro uh when I arrived there and then uh you know then they put us up at the endzone motor end uh down so you

Know like oh man okay I finally realized you know all my dreams have come true and I’m number one overall pick and I’m staying in a you know a rat trap you know motel and going over to uh to these facilities that uh were you know I mean

There the stands were bigger but other than that it was you know like a high school there was no place not even not even a nice high school and then we uh you know for practice to practice on grass we would put all of our gear on get in our cars

And drive five miles to the rentham state school which is the abandon mental hospital hospital where our we had our practice fields it was uh it was really kind of and it was also but there was part of it that was kind of cool because all right we’re The Underdogs you know

We haven’t had a lot of success we’ve got terrible facilities you know so we did sort of embrace this uh Underdog mentality uh you know we didn’t have the you know we didn’t have all the niceties that you would see at at other facilities and uh so we did we kind of

Embraced it you know we’d go we’d go work out hard in this little time weight room and and uh you know Drive our cars to practice and you know all so we were you know we were we were uh we were under dogs and we knew it we embed it

Now when you got to the team there was uh were there any vets that that kind of took you on their wing I know there we had some great players still on the team like Andre tippet um there brce yeah were there any vets that took you under their wing when when

You first got that Scott sequels was I guess the quarterback Zak Zak and I had a a better relationship a lot of people in Boston now probably don’t even know that Scott Zak played football now he’s just the radio true that’s true Scott was an NFL

Quarterback for I think like 11 or 12 years um he had some great games too under mcferson he really did yeah yeah he uh matter of fact the the year before I got there you know their only two wins where wi Zak was I think he was either

The third or fourth quarterback that had played that year but uh you know Andre tippet was uh he was awesome to me as a rookie first of all he was terrifying one of the one one of the best linebackers ever to play he’s obviously in the Pro Football Hall of

Fame uh but uh Tiff was uh uh he was a guy that uh you know did take me under his wing uh as we went forward taught me some things and in Sometimes some pretty funny ways you know he would there was one time we were walking back in from

Practice and there were some little kids out out front because at that time you know the kids could actually be right there and ask for autographs and so these two little kids come up to ask me for an autograph and tip’s walking with me and he looks over he get out of here

Kids no autographs and like okay so I just I just walk inside because you know Mr tippet says autographs there’s obviously no autographs sure sure like five minutes later uh tip comes down into the locker room he goes hey man sign these I was messing with

You I wasn’t messing with the kids right so so he had gone back out and then grabbed the stuff from the kids and had me sign them but but he went back and explained to him like Hey kids I wasn’t trying to scare you I was actually

Scaring Drew uh which he did it was very it was very effective um but uh you know tip uh you know he’s still a good friend of these days I was I just got to hang out with him last weekend when we were out there to honor Mike brael um and uh

Tip’s always been a great friend uh Bruce Armstrong was another guy that was uh that was just one of the one of the baddest dudes to ever walk the planet um in a good way um you know’s on my side Bruce Smith one one-on-one exactly right

He’s a bad man in my book no doubt and uh and Bruce and I ended up having just an amazing relationship got to know each other very well in spite of the fact that we grew up about as differently as you could uh and then Ben coats you know

Anybody that right that knows my career a bit knows that he was my security blanket he was my guy uh you know if we needed a first down I think every I think pretty much everybody in the stadium knew that I was going to throw it to Ben including the defense and they

Still couldn’t stop so yeah so there were there were a handful of of veterans around but it was still it was an extremely young team um you know you Marv cook too as a tight end when you first came Marv cook my uh my rookie year um he’ got to the Pro

Bowl I think either the previous year I think he’d been to a couple of pro bowls yeah um but you know there’s some funny stories when you talk to uh to Marv and the people that are around him because he saw Ben and he’s like wow man um yeah

This is probably not going to be uh probably not going to be long tenure for me as the guy here even Mar you know as his co- tight end could see that this that this young guy was uh just an amazing talent and he went on to

Be one of the all-time greats he he’s you know there are a handful of guys that you play with you’re like okay how is this guy not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and then he very very high on that list where you know he was uh he

Was a prototype for the guy for all these tight ends that you see today yeah um and he was a true tight end he actually could block as well just a glorified receiver uh so yeah Ben’s a guy that that should be wearing a gold jacket in addition to just the red one

For sure you you came in uh in the same draft draft class as another Patriots Legend uh Troy Brown uh I know you mentioned that Parcels wasn’t super high on him how close was he to to actually getting cut and and not making the team I think parcel’s cut him twice I think

He kic I think he kicked him down to the practice squad twice our rookie year uh but Troy was a guy that I immediately uh picked out as special matter of fact our our first rookie mini camp um uh you know I called my dad and

There was there was there was only one guy that I mentioned by name after my first practice and that was Troy I think he was wearing number six at the time uh which in those days you know you couldn’t be a receiver with a single digit number uh so that’s how highly

They thought of him at the time they didn’t even give him a real number uh you know as a rookie um but uh you know Troy was uh yeah was always a guy that you could 100% count on he was always open always caught the ball I think

Parcel’s kept kicking him down because he wasn’t that big and and didn’t have a great 40 time wasn’t wasn’t a speed Runner uh but as a quarterback you know it’s really not about you know how big or how fast a guy is is all that mattered to me is that he was always

Open and always got the ball and that’s really simple as a quarterback those the criteria for receivers you like is exactly that simple right was he the one that CAU caught a pass on his back uh yes he did yeah down there against against the Jets Jets yeah it

Might have been the giant it was down in the metal lands and uh you know it was one of the one of the very very rare times that uh I made a poor throw because in my memory I never made a bad throw but this one I threw it way behind

Troy and he slid on his back and reached back laying on his back and caught this ball that was just an amazing amazing catch um yeah so Troy and now he uh now he’s coaching for the patch and doing a great job so you really played in in an

ERA with just some incredible iconic Hall of Famers what was that like your rookie year you went up against uh Jim Kelly Marino Warren Moon I mean these are some of the legends of the game was that that a little surreal just it was totally surreal it was totally surreal

You know for me you know um you know that draft class of 1983 that’s when I was 11 and so I was like in my Prime football fandom you know that age you know your early teenage years those were my guys posters of them on my wall and

All that stuff and then you know next thing you know I’m playing against them and you know now to this day get to call those guys my friends which I just got to have dinner over in Buffalo with uh Jim Kelly and Dan Marino and you know

I’m 51 now but you know I go sit down with those guys and all of a sudden I’m 12 again you know guys are still myo play the kid yeah yeah I’m still the kid yeah which is cool to be the kid when you’re 51 uh but uh you know my first

Start was at Buffalo and I had just watched the bills just a few months before that in the Super Bowl sitting in my dorm you know in uh out piz yeah yeah exactly and then uh you know here comes Bruce Smith walking down the out of the tunnel I’m like oh

Man I’m in the wrong place I don’t belong here I remember clear I’m out there playing catch and Jim Kelly walks by and slaps me on the bed says hey good luck Rook oh thank you Mr Kelly you know that’s awesome that’s awesome now even

Before that I I I was so excited when you came in I have vivid memories of that first preseason game in San Diego I don’t think you started that game I remember you guys played on the baseball diamond then back then oh yeah for sure um and I

I I can’t find video of this anywhere it I don’t know if it was just it’s in black and white I remember I remember being so excited um do you remember that game and all I remember I think at the very end you had a drive to to that could have

Possibly tied the game you didn’t end up scoring but I remember that was like your first real kind of moment do you remember pretty fun got to go a little two-minute offense I have vague Recollections of that and uh and I I always felt really comfortable in a you

Know in two-minute offense and um I do remember I think I think my first ever touchdown pass in the preseason was to Troy Brown okay wow awesome and um you know which was which was cool because you know it’s like this is the guy that

I that I that I thought I really liked in my first ever touchdown pass was detroy so coming into League you have one of the most hard kind of most hardass coaches Parcels did he take it easy on you did he kind of try to ease

You in or was it just like I don’t think she ever took it easy on anybody and if you a rookie especially if you’re a rookie quarterback he was definitely not GNA take it easy on you he would matter of fact I I tell people all the time I I

Love Sundays for all the reasons that you would expect but one of the things I like best about Sundays was that Parcels always had to be at least 30 35 yards away from so Sundays were a lot easier than than the other days of the week he

Would stand right behind you know where I was throwing in practice and he would stand like literally right behind me but throw it throw it throw it like you know so like imagine somebody you imagine you’re playing golf and somebody’s yelling at you in the thanks coach that that makes me feel real

Relaxed made Sundays feel a lot easier oh man so rookie year you come in you lose a bunch of games to start but it felt like the tides were changing at the at the end of that season you guys really caught fire uh and you ended the

Season really strong could you kind of feel then all right I think we kind of got something going here did it feel did you feel that momentum that rookie like like at that point you know we were we you know we’ at least established that

We could win some games and and the last game of the season you know didn’t really mean much to us but uh but the uh the Dolphins if they win that game they’re in the playoffs if they don’t then they’re out uh so it became our

Playoff game and uh we beat them at the very end which was a great game super exciting and it was it was a great way to send it into the next year and uh um you know then we had another outstanding draft class that next year

And uh so we got Willie and uh who else that uh that draft class but uh yeah you know we felt like things were moving the right direction and and uh um short some things up and we were going to be competitive so it was uh was it that

That that next year that you went on the run I think you were three and six and then you went yeah we’re three and six and won our last seven to get in the playoffs um and uh first time we’d been in the playoffs for a long time and then

Then we had a l in 95 and then 96 we made the made the run all the way to the to the Super Bowl so unfortunately we ran into to Desman Howard and Brett Favre in the the super and didn’t wi I still I was on college game day a few

Years ago and Desmond was on there I was I told him man like look I’ve still never forgiven you I think we had just taken the lead and he took the next kick that’s right that’s right so I blame I blame Desmond even more than

Brett in 96 you got a really great that the the stud receiver Terry Glenn did you have any any influence I knew it was he wasn’t parcel’s First Choice uh I think it was craft he he was uh he parcel wanted to go defense and uh craft uh you know over

Overrode that that decision um matter of fact U when uh Mar I we got married that year and uh Jonathan and Robert Craft both flew out for the wedding and uh um my wedding present uh was Terry Glenn and uh Terry you know set that year the the the uh alltime rookie

Record for receptions uh went on to be a truly great player I got to play with him again in in Dallas right and you know God Rest Your Soul Terry he unfortunately passed away early his son too right yeah yeah he’s yeah he just yeah Terry just uh he was

He was a guy that I had an amazing relationship with and just always always loved him and he was phenomenally talented and we don’t make the run to the Super Bowl that year without him for sure you guys seem to have chemistry right off the bat what was what was

Special about Terry Terry was uh you know he had natural gifts he was very fast and explosive uh but he was a really smart football player he understood how to get separation how to get himself open um and I also you know I understood his body language right

Away so could tell when he was coming out of a Break um and uh you know it’s hard timing and Rapport even early on was was really really good that year you guys were pretty stacked offensively you had coats uh Glenn do you have Sean Jefferson Sean Jefferson yep Troy still

Was buyers as well had megot uh Curtis Curtis so yeah we had some dudes we had some dudes for sure I think one besides the Super Bowl besides the Super Bowl run I think one of the most impressive plays that season actually besides all the greatness that

You you the numbers that you put up was do you remember that Hershel Walker return in Dallas oh yeah for sure and yeah the guy who’s an Olympic track runner gets run down was that one of the most incredible plays by a kicker you’ve ever seen oh man unable matter of fact I

Ended up uh ended up playing for the uh for the Cowboys at the end of my career and they still talked about that play and how much grief they gave uh Hershel for being run down by a kicker uh uh that was uh yeah it was pretty uh pretty

Amazing all right Co so parcel leaves after that that that Super Bowl you get another You’ played for some really really iconic coaches what was that transition like going from parcel’s to Then Pete Carol uh you know I love Pete and still due to this day uh it was a very

Different U very different demeanor Pete was all Pete was all upbeat and uh but you know he still demanded all the same things that that parcel’s did you know you you compete your ass off and um so even though the presentation was different um the big thing that hurt

That hurt Pete honestly was that we just we really didn’t draft very well there for a couple years um and so as guys got old older we didn’t have the younger generation to uh to uh to come up and replace him um would have been fun to

Play for Pete for a long time and I think we could been really successful VI L he’s gone on to be a Hall of Fame you know coach you know he may be one of those rare guys that uh you know potentially gets into two halls of Fame

As a coach both in college and in the uh in the pros um and I’ll actually see him this next weekend I’m uh I’m heading up for the Seahawks game next weekend so uh get a chance to bump into Pete down on the field for the game which would be

Pretty cool that’s awesome that’s awesome so you go from Pete Carol you had a decent run you guys made the playoffs um a few times and I guess the media ran them out of town and then you get you get uh bich right what was it like what’s it

Like playing for bich because you know it’s it’s it’s what you think it is honestly you know it’s very matter of fact it’s very business-like um B’s actually a pretty easy guy to play for um you know he it’s it’s very matter of fact either do your job and do it well

Or we’re going to replace you and there’s no um you know there’s no uh you don’t have to guess what he’s thinking you know he he’ll tell you um obviously uh you know gone on to be arguably the greatest coach in in NFL history and and

U u you know even just this last week when everybody had predicted their demise and step up and beat the bills you know who saw that coming right um so yeah but go ahead is there a different side of him outside when the cameras are

Off is there does he have a so funny man we we went back uh after I retired we went back and did this uh did a wine deal at there’s a little wine bar right by the stadium Patriot’s Place I don’t think it’s there anymore but you know he

Came over for this wine deal and all of a sudden he’s smiling he’s laughing he’s sipping on a glass of wine and I remember looking over like man that looks like Bill bellich but that can’t be him like he’s smiling laughing he’s lighthearted he’s funny yeah and uh yeah

So you know you get him out of the office and and there’s a different side to him for sure uh but he’s a you know famously slash notoriously all business around the around the office for sure all right so progressing now on to the 2000

Season Tom Brady was on I think was the fourth string quarterback he had I think completed one pass that year what was what was he like back then before you know Tom was always a guy that that everybody loved and appreciated and was a guy that uh you know he was over at

Our house you know probably every other week for dinner and and uh you know he was always a guy that uh you know that you know I felt like and I think everybody felt like it was going to be around for a long time um I don’t think

Probably very many people other than Tom himself saw him as a you know as a starter in the NFL um and then for him to go on and have the amazing career that he that he that he had uh you know was uh was just it was cool to watch you

Know and and as as as Bittersweet as it was to to uh you know to get hurt and have him come in and and go on you know Tom was always such a a class guy and such a great teammate for everybody U you know that it made it uh made it

Easier after a while it made it easier to for him and see all the great things that he’s done so the game really has changed a ton with with the rules with hitting the quarterback um and I think everyone knows about the the mo Lewis

Game and and the hit I think a lot of people don’t realize or one how serious it was did you even know it was that serious because you actually came back in that game yeah I came back in and played in the game yeah I didn’t know it

Was that serious until uh uh you know really until kind of the end of the game when things started to hurt and then by the time I got to the locker room was like oh man this this is actually really hurting to the fact to the point where

They had to cut my jersey off because I couldn’t pick it off oh my god um and then I didn’t really know how serious it was until I woke up in the hospital later that night found out there was looked down I got a chest tube in my in

My chest pump and blood out of my chest recycl it and putting it back in and and uh um yeah know so thankfully you know um you know just count my blessings that we were there and had one of the world’s great hospitals to take care of me one

Of the world’s great doctors to make the decisions at the time and and um elected not to open up my chest and uh go in to fix things because had he done that that’s a whole different level of compli I gotta rip your chest cavity open um

Plus you know it’ give me a weird tan line in the summer time I uh but uh uh um yeah no it was uh it was it was a crazy time I was in the hospital for five or six days and then couldn’t do anything for a long time and

Uh then when I came back you know shoot my job wasn’t there anymore so so that was uh that was that was uh yeah it was it was a crazy time for sure but but uh you know made it through it and and uh you know life life is good and you know

Because that happened I actually you know nobody thinks they want to go to Buffalo we got to Buffalo and I just they have great fans as well and uh um and then I got to play for the Cowboys for a couple years which you know it’s like pitching for the Yankees you know

Everybody there there’s almost no uh there’s no uh there’s kind of no ambivalence you know about the quarterback for the Cowboys people either love you or they hate you um so ended up being a heck of a ride I don’t really I don’t have any regrets I just

Want to say thank you uh quick final thing what was you know what did it mean to play in Boston to be a patriot uh what are your lasting memories of playing here yeah you know it was it was a really cool thing then and it’s a

Really cool thing now um you know I think if you you know if you get to play in that in in that market um obviously it’s you know you’re you know they love your hatred depending on how the game went the last week but if you do things the

Right way and and people know that you were that you were um given it everything that you had and and handle yourself uh properly you know the affection lasts for a long time so for me now it’s really fun to come back uh because I find that U you know it’s not

It’s not like it was it’s not like you know like this big deal we got to get autographs and now selfies and all this stuff it’s more like I’m an old friend that came back home you know we walking down the streets in Boston like hey Drew

What’s up man good to see you buiness good uh and that uh that’s a really cool thing because it just really feels like coming home when we come back there which is uh which is a great feeling and last lastly Before I Let You Go I want

To talk about your what you’re doing these days I I Know Myself St had a chance I’m not a big Wine Drinker but you now have this amazing uh you know new well not new but you’ve been doing for a while this new Venture into the wine business uh yeah

Double double back wines what’s that what’s that been super man you know when you uh you grw up in a small town like I did um and then you get to go back home and and have a business that uh that’s meaningful in the town uh that’s representing your little town to the

World uh than doing so in a in a in a hopefully a very first class way uh it’s it’s a really meaningful thing you know you when you grow up in a small town you really are raised by the entire town uh and so to have something back there

That’s uh that’s out there you know representing our little place in a way matter of fact I see you got some bottles sitting on your shelf those are those I I will keep those forever it just yeah I love it I love it it’s been it’s yeah it’s been really really fun

And the uh and the cool thing is you know we just had a meeting this morning and we’ve got it’s we’ve got 60 employees now it’s a real company um but I talk about you know football a lot with our with our team maybe more than

They would like you know me living Rel living old war war stories but you know in order to be successful you know really any Endeavor it requires the same kinds of things that that that football required you you got to have a great team around you uh you’ve got to plan

Well you’ve got to execute you’ve got to learn to embrace adversity when it comes along uh you know you’ve got to adapt youve got to overcome you got to do all of these things that that that come at you um and so being able to to pass

Along some of the lessons that I learned from from quarterbacking you know football teams uh into helping to run a business um uh has been has been pretty cool and so there are a lot of things I love about it and at the end of the day

We get to sit around and drink wine and call that work so life is pretty good I think it’s also great uh I know You’ mentioned how you uh offer health insurance to a lot of the the oh yeah we take yeah we take good care of our

Employ really good yeah we’ve embraced the sustainability initiative both in the uh in how we treat the land and how we treat the environment but also in how we treat our people you know we we don’t have uh you know seasonal labor anymore we have uh we have our own farming

Company where rather than people working for six seven eight months at a time uh and then finding some another way to to sustain their family they work for us year round and and they have health insurance retirement benefits and most importantly they have stability in their

Lives for the very first time you know in their modern family history so and it works really well for us because now they they they treat our business as if they own the business you know they’re they’re not just employees they have real ownership of what’s going on in the

Uh in the in the vines in The Vineyards I love it I’ll finish up with this the most meaningful thing that actually aside from football that you had mentioned is you wanted to run a business that your mother that will make your mom proud and my last question is

Is she proud yeah she is she is she is proud mom’s mom’s proud of how we do things uh and uh uh and she also really likes the wine too which is good you know they uh both both mom and dad you know they were both School teachers um

You know grew up with farming background so there wasn’t a lot of Fine Wine sitting on the table at uh at dinner growing up but uh uh they both actually really enjoy a good bottle of wine now so I’ve kind of I’m proud to say that I’ve spoiled them a bit

Drew I can’t thank you enough for your time it’s it’s been such a pleasure to talk to the man really that turned the whole franchise from a laughing stock to to respectability um thank you so much it’s been such a pleasure uh hopefully I hope to get out to your your Vineyard um

Sometime soon uh yeah come out come out come out and see us yeah it’s uh just you know fire me an email when you want to come out I’ll make sure you’re well taken care of it’s a it’s a pretty fun place to visit he way true I let you go

I know you’re a busy man uh thank you so much um talk soon hopefully all right right on appreciate you guys take care by bye bled by the lights we came to shine here watch it look daytime and night