His 2000 Patriots weren’t very good, and toward the end of the disappointing year, I asked if I could watch film with him. He was a couple of weeks away from a career record of 41-55. The record belied what I saw in that session; he had astonishing knowledge and attention to detail. Afterward, I told him that one day I’d like to write a book about the NFL that he experiences on a daily basis, the bustling Monday through Saturday operation that is cloistered from the public in Foxboro.
The next year, his workplace changed and so did the world around him. He and his backup quarterback, Tom Brady, became stars and champions. Talk about a turnaround. In the first ninety-six games of his career, Belichick was fourteen games below the break-even point. In the ninety-six games that followed, his teams went 72-24. I’ve been blessed to have seen the entirety of the Belichick-Brady partnership, many times with unprecedented access. Consider this book the third in a trilogy that also includes 2004’s Patriot Reign and 2011’s War Room.
To truly give proper thanks for how all of this came to be, I’d have to pen a memoir on gratitude. So many people over the years have prayed for and with me, poured knowledge into me, and been patient with me despite my mistakes. There are dozens of family members, friends, pastors, mentors, sources, associates, and even critics who have helped shape me into a better journalist and man.
I’m so thankful to have a literary family that I trust and respect. I’m not sure how that happened; my publisher and editor, Mauro DiPreta and Doug Grad, are both Jets fans. Seriously, thanks to both of them for their passion, smarts, and hunger to make everything better. The entire team at Hachette, including David Lamb, Ashley Yancey, Kristin Vorce Duran, and Carolyn Kurek, made sure that this project aimed high and stayed on course. My agent, Basil Kane, has been the kindest, steadiest, and most protective literary presence in my life for a dozen years. In those dozen years, Kane, DiPreta, and I have forged a bond that goes beyond the business of books. They both have the ability to tell me, at times, what I don’t want to hear, yet they’re still exceedingly constructive. It’s reassuring to work with people when you know that friendship is at the foundation of the relationship.
As you might expect, there are numerous “characters” over the past sixteen years who have contributed to this book. I’ve never envisioned the Patriots’ success as Belichick and Brady at the top and a crowd of players below. Rather, the coach and quarterback are bookends on a shelf, with innumerable personalities tucked between them. It’s been an educational journey over the years to interview and observe those varied characters, whether they have risen, fallen, rebelled, or evolved. I’m thankful for all the conversations, even if all of them have not been pleasant (or received pleasantly once in print). Special thanks to Belichick, Brady, Ty Law, Tedy Bruschi, Richard Seymour, Roman Phifer, Willie McGinest, Troy Brown, Rosevelt Colvin, Matt Chatham, Damien Woody, Christian Fauria, Chris Eitzmann, Alge Crumpler, Deion Branch, Scott Zolak, Gil Santos, Lionel Vital, Adrian Klemm, Louis Riddick, Heath Evans, Robert Kraft, Jonathan Kraft, Dan Kraft, Scott Pioli, Thomas Dimitroff, Bob Quinn, Josh McDaniels, Nick Caserio, Berj Najarian, Stacey James, Ty Warren, Vince Wilfork, Ben Watson, Rodney Harrison, Jason Licht, Kyle O’Brien, Jay Muraco, Mike Woicik, Jim Whalen, Mike Vrabel, Ted Johnson, Adam Vinatieri, Nancy Maier, Anthony Pleasant, Romeo Crennel, Charlie Weis, Otis Smith, Jim Nagy, Kevin Faulk, Bobby Hamilton, Lawyer Milloy, Drew Bledsoe, Ivan Fears, Dante Scarnecchia, Brad Seely, Eric Mangini, Rob Ryan, John Van de Brook, Logan Mankins, David Patten, Joe Andruzzi, Jeff Davidson, Dallas Pioli, and, obviously, dozens upon dozens of others.
It’s a tribute to the Patriots that they have carefully guarded inside information. It’s a tribute to the men and women who have covered them that, despite the resistance, there has been some exceptional work submitted by beat reporters and football columnists over the years. My research was greatly helped by their contributions: Karen Guregian, Michael Felger, Kevin Mannix, Ian Rapoport, Gerry Callahan, George Kimball, Jim Baker, Albert Breer, John Tomase, Jeff Howe, Tom E. Curran, Mike Giardi, Ed Duckworth, Jim Donaldson, Shalise Manza Young, Mike Lowe, Christopher Price, Mike Reiss, Field Yates, Mike Rodak, Nick Cafardo, Michael Smith, Ron Borges, Dan Shaughnessy, Jackie MacMullan, Bob Ryan, Bill Griffith, Chad Finn, Jerome Solomon, Greg A. Bedard, Ben Volin, Michael Whitmer, Julian Benbow, Adam Kilgore, Jim McBride, Dan Ventura, Rich Thompson, Ron Hobson, Lenny Megliola, Mark Farinella. Michael Connelly’s book The President’s Team was a great resource for information on Steve Belichick. As many WEEI radio listeners learned, I was obsessed with transcripts from the Wells Report and Brady’s suspension appeal hearing in New York. The voluminous record there was extremely helpful, as was the testimony from the Aaron Hernandez trial. NFL Films, with its 2011 documentary on Belichick and its recordings of specific Patriots games, was also resourceful.
Sometimes it’s easy to miss excellence from the everyday workplace. Since 2005, I’ve been fortunate to work at WEEI in Boston. Four books have been completed since I’ve been there, and that couldn’t happen without supportive management and colleagues. First and foremost, I want to thank the best quarterback I’ve ever worked with, Dale Arnold. There are many others, too: Jerry Thornton, Ben Kichen, Andy Massaua, Glenn Ordway, Lou Merloni, Joe Zarbano, Mike Adams, Mike Mutnansky, Kirk Minihane, John Dennis, Gerry Callahan, Phil Zachary, Kevin Graham, Jason Wolfe, Julie Kahn, Weezie Kramer, and David Field. The archives at the station were full of nuggets from exclusive Belichick and Brady interviews in the past sixteen years, and transcripts from those are reflected here. Thanks, in particular, to Kichen, Massaua, and Zarbano for helping track down the sound.
There is no way I would have made it through this project without prayer. I thank God for His anointed ones, in Boston and across the country: Ray Hammond, Gloria White-Hammond, Robert Gray, Brandon Thomas Crowley, Alicia Johnson, John Borders, Howard-John Wesley, Lance Watson, Tony Evans, Jeremiah Wright, Otis Moss III, Wyatt Jackson, and many others who unknowingly helped guide my faith walk.
Finally, I’m overwhelmed by the unending love and patience shown by my wife, Oni, and our three children. I thought Basil Kane was joking a few years ago when he quipped, “With three kids, you’ll just have to learn to write with the kids bouncing on your lap and draped around your neck.” Well, that actually happened a few times. Most of the time, though, everyone understood that a closed office door meant that Daddy was unavailable. They gave me some great and necessary moments of levity, though, with my five-year-old son, Beckham, once asking, “What are you writing, the Bible? Are you done yet?”
Beckham is a voracious reader in his own right, and when the book was finished, he had a question about the next one. “Can it be a children’s book?” Sixteen years ago, I would have said no way. Now, well, I won’t rule out anything.
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CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Welcome
Dedication
1. Beating the System
2. A New Way of Doing Business
3. No One Saw It Coming
4. The Greatest Reality Show on Earth
5. Leaving the Pack
6. The Pelts of Success
7. Rolling
8. Bonds and Breaks
9. Unexpected Endings
10. To Catch a Patriot
11. The Outsiders
12. Franchise Shifts
13. Tightrope
14. Conscience and Conflict
15. Broken Trusts
16. Second-Guessing
17. “We are the Patriots. Everything Is a Big Deal”
18. Do Your Job
19. The Nation versus Patriots Nation
Photos
Acknowledgments
Newsletters
Copyright
Copyright
Copyright © 2016 by Michael Holley
Cover design by James Iacobelli
Cover copyright © 2016 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
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ISBN 978-0-316-26689-5
E3-20160824-JV-NF
Belichick and Brady Page 39