Pats from the Past: Episode 1, Rodney Harrison

all the video content here for the franchise. Because of that, I think I bring a unique perspective to the history that has become one of the best in all of professional sports. And speaking of history, let me introduce you to aman who needs no introduction, Thanks Matt. My name's Brian Morey. I'm the executive director of the Patriots Hall

of Fame, presented by Raytheon. I started with the organization back in nineteen ninety seven as the editor of Patriots Football Weekly, and I now have the opportunity to preserve the team's history as it's as the history is being made.

Matt as the director of the Hall of Fame, and I'm very excited to be involved in this with you and so our hope here in our desire, our mission statement, however you want to say it, Brian, is we want to have a conversation with the people who have made this franchise the gold standard that it is today, the people who have made the history, as you say, for the New England Patriots. And Brian, can you think of a better person to kick this off than the person

we're going to start off with? No way, Man, he was a personality on the field. He was certainly a personality in the locker room during his time here and remains one today. And so, without any further ado, we invite you to listen to our Conversation for our Pats from the Past podcast with Patriots Hall of Famer Rodney Harrison. All Right, Matt Smith here with Brian Moore and were pleased to be joined by Patriot's Hall of Famer Rodney Harrison. Rodney,

how you doing? You know what I'm doing? Well? Man, just flew in with the wife, kept the kids back at home because we didn't want you know, Patriots don't have to spend all that extra money. But yeah, man, I'm just really excited and pumped up about tonight. They appreciate the savings I can appreciate the savings. We're gonna talk some football, Roddy, and probably have a little fine and hopefully you provide some insight as to your great

Hall of Fame career here. But we start that with the end of one chapter of your football career, and that was in San Diego. Were you pissed at that point in time when it was obvious to you that the San Diego portion of your career was over. Yeah, I was very disappointed, and I was actually heartbroken because the trainers looked at me, the coaches looked at me, and they said, hey, if you go out there and you continue to play, we're not gonna hold your injury

against you. Well, obviously I was limping around, I was taking all these pain meds. I was doing all these other things, taking this stuff that's gonna hurt me long term, hurt my health long term, just to get that back out on the football field. And when it came down to it, they put out that I couldn't play anymore, that I couldn't run, that I wasn't a very good player anymore, and that hurt me, and that injury, it

was my growing injury. I had thirty five percent of my growing ripped from the bone, and I was hobbling and my entire leg was as black as my sweatpants I have on. And it just hurt me because I'll do anything for my team, my organization. I'll do whatever I have to do. But don't sit here and lie to me, to my face and tell me that it's not going to hurt me. And you know, six months

later you cut me. Now, now I'm curious as a general, as a generality, when stuff like that happens, and when players switch teams, it happens all the time, right, How how frequently is there bitterness after a player is cut by a team and joined the new team. Mines basically continued throughout my career. That was one of the motivating forces. And I said, you know, I don't want to go into FC West because most players want to go in

to FFC West play that team twice. That's one of the reasons why I didn't go to Denver or Oakland. You know, I know Belichick came in. I had a chance to meet with him, and he was just terrific. Once I met with coach and you know, he started, you know, we started sharing stories and he you know. He started saying, Hey, I remember when you're in warmups and you hit that guy and the helmet flew off. And I'm like, dude, you actually remember that, Like that

little fine detail of warmups? I said. I looked at my age and say, man, you gotta this is the place I want to be because this man knows football. Were you blown away by that? Rodney? Absolutely, because not only that he had said something else, but just a small, intricate details. And I'm a detailed guy when I'm watching Tate, whether I was a football player or even now as a broadcaster, little things that I pick up, whether you're hustling, you know, are you you know, for effort, all these

different things I pick up. And for him to pick that up and to know that, and that was a special moment for me because when I hit this guy, I felt good. I'm like, yeah, I'm ready to go. And he saw that and he remembered that and he mentioned it to me. It was just unbelievable. Did he have any other sales pitch items that he talked to you about, because I imagine when he's talking about that, he's just kind of telling you, hey, this is the

reason we want you. Did he did he try to sell the Patriots to you in another two He didn't have to. I mean, Tylawa was here, Lawyer Mallory was here, two guys that I really wanted to play with. I knew they had success in two thousand and one after you know, winning that Super Bowl. But he really didn't have have to sell me. Once he said what he said, and he says, look, he never asked me once how are you doing body wise? Can you still run? Are

you injured? Are you healthy? Never asked me anything like that. So it was really what he didn't ask me. That was the selling point, you know what I mean? Yeah, like he didn't. He didn't. He wasn't tripping. He was like, look, I want you to be a leader. I want you to do your thing. I'm gonna give you freedom. I'm gonna let you go out there and play. And once he said that let's go ball. Well, so, Brian, I think the cynics around here in New England would say okay.

So he didn't say anything to you then. But when training camp started, did he say anything to you about, Hey, it's okay if you want to mix things up, we could use a little fixing up. He didn't have to tell me anything like that. You did that on your own. That's right. I'm a football player. I don't need coach belach, Hey, you can play a little bit more aggressive. No coach has ever told me to play more aggressive. If anything, he said back it down a little bit, And he

never told me to back it down. Do you think that they needed that? Mean? Did you think that that team needed that edge that you brought coming off a non playoff here? Well, Eddie Bruski, I've heard him say, that's exactly what we needed. We needed a guy like hot Rods. So I'll go back to Teddy Bruski's um quote.

I just I was ready, man, You know my intensity I came in it was up to hear because I was so bitter at the Chargers, but I was so excited about my new opportunity here and I and I heard the rumblings, and I heard all of Rodney's why would you go out and get a safety? This, this age, this that and the other. He's not the same. You know, where's he gonna fit in on the defense? So I

love that. So I love when I heard a lot of the Patriots fans asking those questions because I told I told my wife, I said, they have no idea what they're in for. I'm gonna come out here and ball out. So when I when I'm covering training camp, I hear the coaches all the time, y'all, and hey, stay off the ground. You were knocking guys on the ground. They didn't tell you to tell that. It really didn't matter.

I mean, it's football. Man, come across the middle, you catch the ball around me, I'm gonna hit you, and you're my teammate. I love you, I'm gonna pick you up. But at the end of the day, you know we're gonna be a physical, fast defense that plays well under pressure, that's going to knock your head off every time we get and that's what I wanted to bring to this team. You mentioned defensive fit. Okay, so you know the offseason

you signed in March off season program. I don't know if you came here in April or anything like that, but camp starts in July. Did you sense it you were going to be able to fit with my lawyer or did you know right away? I don't know if this is gonna work. I don't I didn't overthink it. I'm a football player. My job was to go out there and play football, and whether that meant playing with Lawyer, playing with Tie, playing with somebody else, it didn't matter.

I just knew that I had to get on that field and I was going to be a starter at one of those safety positions, no matter what, no matter what, who was gonna beat me. I was too determined, I was too motivated, I was too focused. Nobody was gonna beat me out. And that's the way it was my entire career. I felt like I always had something to prove. Now, obviously, then you didn't get to play with Lawyer, and that

was a pretty controversial thing around here. When Lawyer was released five days before the start of the two thousand and three season. Can you take us back into the locker room at that time, and you hadn't played with Lawyer, but you knew of Lawyer. You mentioned that, you know, what was that like in the locker room? I mean that happens because man got blown out in week one. It's a business man, I mean, it's a business. Think

about it. You don't need two strong safeties, And then think think about Eugene Wilson when he came and he got inserted. It gave us a level of athleticism that we didn't have. You know, he was a cornerback basically playing free safety. Then we could play with our base defense. He could go down and take the third wide receiver. If he didn't want to take him, then I could take him. So Lawyer wasn't a great cover guy. Lawyer played with a lot of emotional a lot of energy.

He was great physical to fans love them, but he wasn't a cover guy where he could cover one on one. And I think that's where we were really upgraded as far as athleticism, speed, and coverage ability because Eugene Wilson was so good at that. You mentioned business though, and the Patriots, and so I mean the Patriot fans Lawyer was one of their own one Super Bowl thirty six. Did you feel any trepidation, like, oh, I'm the new guy here. It just happened to me. Yeah, okay, I

understood it, got it. Heck, I just got shipped out of the place that I was there for nine years. A guy that was involved in the community sacrifice his career millions of dollars on the line. I could have set back and collected my money and not played a dime. I went out there and played and risked my career to go out there and play to help that team win. So yeah, I knew what Laurier was going through. But I also knew that Lawyer I think was Lawyer was

the first round draft choice. Right, Laurier had made some good money second, second, first or second. It was better than me. In the fifth I got forty grand a sign. I'm sure he got a lot more than that, right, So okay. So wait, So in other words, my you know, I felt bad for a lawyer, but I knew Lawyer would be okay. There's gonna be ten teams that need a guy like like lawyers, so I knew he was gonna be okay. I wasn't worried about Lawyer. I was worried about our team. So you go out and lose

thirty one nothing to Lawyer and the Bills. In week one, Week two, we're in Philadelphia, and I remember in my hotel room because we had a four o'clock game. I believe I'm watching Prime Time on ESPN when they do this whole hatchet job feature about the Patriots. The interview Drew and Sam Gash and Lawyer about what a family it is in Buffalo and how awful the Patriots are. They come back from that, Tom Jackson says they hate

their coach, and I went, WHOA did someone tell him that? Like, my first thought was somebody in our locker room must have told Tom Jackson that How did you guys respond to that? You went out and hammered the Eagles that day, but how did you guys react to that whole controversy? Well, to us, it wasn't controversy because it was someone saying something outside of our locker room. And although it was early in the season, it really was just what we

needed to come together. It was that little spark that we needed just to be able to come together and really buying as a team. And that's what we did. We said, Man, I hate coach Belichick. We're the ones out there plan. Yeah, the coaches could have probably done a better job of preparing us for that game, but ultimately we're the ones out there plan. So it was it's like we kind of laughed at it and was like, Okay, if this is what they think we are, we're gonna

buy together and we're gonna go on a run. And that's exactly what we did. We went on a run. Brian. You remember in the speech when Roddy was inducted back in August and Robert Craft is talking about the original no respect guy. Rody did that kind of start there. Maybe after that they hate their coach Philadelphia, where whatever chip you already had on your shoulder, it was like, hey know what they're against us, man, They're trying to pull us apart. They're not going to do that. Yeah,

they're not going to do that. And that it got bigger and bigger. The cults. You can't beat the cults. You can't beat this team. You carried that chip on your shoulder throughout. It was just what we needed too, you know, I mean, just for people to doubt us, to second guesses. And yeah, that was me because that was me My entire life always looked overlooked. Ass he's too small, he's this, he's that. So I've always had to grind and get into somebody's face to make it happen.

But all in all, man, you know what, we just use it as motivation. We said, as a group, we're not going to worry about what Tom Jackson and what all these other pundits will say, it's all about what we feel and how we prepare and how we work and the things that we do. And that's what we did. Man. We went on a great run and it was fantastic.

And the cool part about it is we set back and you know, it was like more people like Tom Jackson and all of a sudden and everybody started flipping all the Patriots are so great and we're like, no, don't come on our bandwagon. Now. You know what I'm saying. You didn't listen to any of that. Every week you said, the only one who believes in our side. That's right. Do you think though, that that worked that nobody respects us? Do you think that worked for that team? Oh, it

worked for that team, no question. Because I used to say it a lot. And then you get guys like Willie and all the rest of the guys jumping in and it just motivates you. Then you see guys in a weight room at six o'clock in the morning watching extra film, doing extra gassers. I mean, that team was a really, really good team, and it had so many great pros on it, so many really good young players, that were open to listening and to receive in the

information that the veteran players were giving them. So that it's the most disrespected thirty four and four group over two years in history, the most disrespected back to back cupball champions and over two years. Oh that was pretty sweet. So you talk about another guy who carried the disrespect label, picked number one ninety nine in the sixth round, has probably never shed that. You know, I was overlood. I was overlooked. Um. When you first got here and saw him,

he was Tom Brady, not Tom Brady. What was your thoughts to him when you saw him for the first time, Rodney. Um, When I got a chance to sit down and talk to Tom, we talked about family. Um. You know, we just talked about normal things. We didn't talk a lot about football. Um at first, because I'm one of those guys, I'm gonna ask you about your family, your kids, your you know, relationships, you know, just to try to get

to know you. And then as we practice and things like that, we got into some very competitive battles the offense versus the defense. And man, I tell you, that's where I really got to know Tom. That's when I got a chance to really see how competitive and how fiery is. Because as nice as he is off the he was he was a jerk on the field. Like he was yelling and cussing and mad because we're jamming his receivers in the red zone, MF and us. And he was just a competitive son of a gun, you know.

And I loved it. I was like, Wow, this is our quarterback. That's awesome. He's yelling and cussing at us, That's great. So I'm you remember, I came from the Charges where we had Ryan Leaf and some other bad quarterbacks. I played with Drew Brees over there, but he wasn't the Drew Brees that we know now. But yeah, man, it was It was really Tom's competitiveness every single day. You know, you look at this guy. He wasn't built up any special way, like what is so special about him?

And you know it was his work ethic and just the relationship that he had with his teammates. If Tom Brady was sitting right here, he might say that Rodney Harrison was the jerk on the practice field. What were you getting back to him? The same thing, you know. And I prided myself on being a jerk. But that's that's okay because my teammates love me, and I don't worry about what other people think about me and anything.

I just spent on the practice field, like because Brady was obviously talking trash to you and and Crow and I'm sure you were giving it right back. Oh yeah, man, that's that's all part of it. That's the fun. I mean, those are really the things that you miss. You don't miss, like I don't miss plan on Thursday night out here in the cold, fridgid cold, but you do miss those times where you're at lunch, you're eating and Tom sits next to you and you're having a conversation about things

and you know, just things outside of football. If if fans could have bought a ticket to those practices, Rodney, would they have been blown up? I mean, we saw a great team be born there, back to back Super Bowl champions. You talk about the practices. If people could see how competitive practice, would they be able to believe it? You know, um practice was really really special. But also our preparation in the weight room and film room was

very special because our coaches were constantly quizzing us. You had veteran players like we had coaches walked right past you all of a sudden, they will stop and look at you and ask you a question. They like quiz you. So you always have to be on guard. So yeah, man, it was it was. It was fun. Man, it was a really special time in my career. Man. I tell you it was the best decision. I don't care if someone to offer me ten million dollars more, twenty million

dollars more. It was the best football experience because I gained so much knowledge. And I tell you this, guys, I would not be on NBC if I didn't learn from Bill Belichick. If I didn't learn the exes and those and things, the big picture things and the little things that that matters when it comes to football, would not be on the show. So what what things did you learn that we might not think of or know them?

All you have to do is watch the show. You know, just insights and just keys and you know, just different things that you you kind of look at. But you know you're talking about learning the game and think about it too. I mean, there's no coins Like Rob Gronkowski just got a job on Fox. Willie McGinnis is on

NFL Network Teddy Bruski is doing a great job. You know, we've had so many guys in the media, and those guys probably wouldn't be in the media if they wouldn't have learned things from Coach Belichick, because you just become a smarter person, you know once once you leave here.

How is the irony in that the team that doesn't say anything, the team that doesn't want to give away anything right now populates whatever broadcast network is out there with ex players because they want those people to talk about the game. That's irony, isn't it? Yeah, it is, it is. It's amazing, man. What's your perspective on that? Then? How is your perspective changed from being in the locker room as a player and now being a member of

the media that walked in that locker room every day. Well, I got to realize that, you know, people young players look at me. They respect me from from things that I've accomplished, but I'm not a player. So there's there's definitely um a separation that you have to have. You know, when I'm when I'm doing my job, and sometimes I may criticize somebody. Heck, I criticize um a coach that I know real well, and he wasn't happy, you know, just a couple of weeks ago. He wasn't happy. But

I but I said this, I say this. He's never called me to complain about any compliments I've given him. You know what I mean. It's like people, people hear that one little If I don't believe in your team, I don't believe in your team, I'm gonna say it. But it's not personal against you. You still my boy. Just like if I do believe in your in your team,

you know, I'm gonna say what I believe. And a lot of people have a hard time taking that in, especially younger players, which that hard for you your first year knowing that you had to criticize well, I think my first year, when was that call with Belichick when he went for two thousand and nine fourth and two again to cold That That was my moment right there, brother, that was my moment. I was a rookie in the

broadcast booth. I was on television and that happened and the game was over, and then one of our producers, I think it was Sam Flood, said hey, we got to talk about this. So they come straight to me. The camera's looking it's a one on one what you think about that call? And I think I said, Hey, I've been around coach Belichick a long time, and my heart is it's it's beating a thousand miles from I'm

so nervous. I'm like, Okay, this is gonna make or break my relationship with the Patriots because I'm transitioning to this broadcast booth. And I said, you know, I've known coach Belichick for a long time. I said, you know, and I've seen him make a lot of decisions, but this is probably the worst decision on the football field I've ever seen him. Mate, and I thought it was over, So I'm like okay, And and one of our producers said, a matter of fact, I think it was Dick ever Saw,

who was the chairman of NBC Sports. He says, excellent job, Rodney, and I'm like, shoot, I'm not feeling excellent. You know, I just went after my coach. But that was my moment because people said, well, he's not afraid to criticize Bill Belichick, and that was a harder criticism. So that was tough. But once I got over that, I felt like I had the courage and the confidence to just do my job well if it makes you feel any better.

One day, I was in meeting with coach Belichick in the offseason back when we used to do Coaches Corner, and I forget exactly what he was talking to me about, but it was about personal stuff, personal criticisms, and he said, listen, if you want to criticize me for going forward on fourth and two, have at it. So I'm sure it didn't bother him that much. He was more talking about players being criticized or personal situations being criticized. He didn't

care if you criticize the football side of it. He doesn't, you know. And he came to me, and you know, it's he came to me and Willie, Willie McGinnis and I at training camp and he said, hey, you know, if you guys, you guys have to say stuff. I get it. You have to do your job. And I said, don't worry, we will do our job. And he laughed, you know, because it's nothing personal, it's nothing but love. I mean, he gave Willie and I opportunities that we

probably would have never had in our lives. You know what I'm saying. He you know, because we're part of his team. So he showed number love and if you weren't willing to do that, you wouldn't have your job very long, you know. And that was the other point right there. And one of my producers said, hey, man, this is he called me said, he said, that was your defining moment. He says, if you would have protected

Coach Belichick, you would have lost all credibility. And you don't have a lot of credibility in a booth because this is your first year, but you would have lost all your credibilities. So I'm glad I stuck to my instincts. Meanwhile, Tony Dungee wholeheartedly agree with them going forward on fourth and two. And how is that relationship with coach Dungee? Yeah,

I mean, well, obviously it's a working relationship. But do you guys sit there and bust each other's chops about the old days or the games or anything like we do? We do in every week. He's the same coach Dungee that we know. He prays for the Patriots down falls, the Patriots to lose, and you know, and every Super Bowl that we've done, I think we've done personally maybe three of the Patriots Super Bowls, and he's always there wanting the Patriots to lose. You know, it's just natural instinct.

But yeah, but you beat him two years in a row in the playoffs those two years, oh three h four. Do you guys talk about those games at all? And then of course the what rules are they going to change this year kind of stuff that emanated from the Colts and Bill Polian being on the competition committee. Well, you know, it's this is our eleventh year together, which is that's amazing, it is, that's amazing, it is it

seems like you just started yesterday. It's eleven years. And how many people, by the way, and I'm sure you know that they don't have runs like that, No, especially on a show that caliber. Absolutely, you know, eight nine straight years of being a number one shown right television, which is like, I'm I'm thoroughly blown back. And I tell you, Mike to Rico, he's come in. And what I love about Mike Terrico, He's and everybody should notice he is a true football guy. Like the guy watches

tape like right now, just finished talking to him. He's on his way to Notre Dame. He's gonna broadcast Notre Dame. But he'll be looking at NFL depth charts and looking at college stuff at the same time. It's like, amazing, how smart and how brilliant he is. And I think he's he's done a wonderful job and he's really helped our show. Um, okay, Patriots are playing the Giant today, last football ish before we get into broadcasting. I'd be remissed when the Patriots and Giants are playing and I

think back into a Super Bowl forty two? Have you made peace with that Rodney super Bowl forty two? Oh yeah, I'm I'm in a great place with that man, because I know who I am as a person. I know who I am as a player and a man. If I had success and won a couple of Super Bowls and I've made some great plays, amazing plays along the way, guess what other people are gonna make plays. So you have to accept it. You have to. You can't be a sore loser and you can no, you can't. You

can't because you think about it. You're telling your kids, hey, man, hey, you gotta be able to get over it. Mental toughness and all these different things. At the end of the day, look, we had it. We still had an opportunity to win that Super Bowl. We didn't win. We win sixteen. To know, we built some great friendships, relationships, great experiences. It is what it is at the end of the day. And by the way, I didn't mean I'm not singling you out of course, you're one of eleven guys and you

could have been sacked or anything like that. But as we've just seen Top one hundred games produced by NFL films, Top one hundred plays by you are constantly reminded of that all the time. Cool man, I'm gonna be famous forever. And there's so many other Patriots memories that you were part of in that, but that one sticks out. And so that's why I was just saying, when when I say you make piece of it, you know you did everything you could on that play, as did the other people,

and stuff happened. The key is, it's not if I made piece with it. The key is, have you guys and the fans made piece with it with the loss? No, it is what it is. I don't I would say yes because we would have a nice nineteen to no exhibit in the hall. That's all right. I wouldn't happen, buddy, right, But I would argue that I think you guys lost that game at the line of scrimmage, both offensive their

defensive line dominating you. And okay, so they had one fluke play, I would argue, I think the way that that game was going that was third down, wasn't it. I think the Tyree play was third down. They had already converted a firth down a fourth down earlier that drive. I think they would have converted another one. That's just

kind of the way the game was going. Hey man, at the end of the day, hopefully the Patriots blow them out the water tonight, keyword water And you know, like you mentioned the kids, but we teach the kids, right, so I always tell the kids, Hey, this lessons in losing too. But at the same time I asked them when I have coached baseball, if I always asked the kids, hey, do you like to win or do you hate to lose?

And they look at you like they don't understand the question, And I say, you have to hate to lose because that's what drives you. Is that what drives you? Is that drove you throughout your career Because I think That's what drives Tom Brady, is that he just hates losing so much that he's going to make sure he does everything in his power not to live. Doesn't fear. But it's not about winning. It's to me personally, it's about getting the most out of my ability. And that's what

I've always tried to do. I've always tried to get the most out of what God has given me. And so it's not about winning and losing, because I feel like if I do things right, if I work hard, if I'm humble, if if I keep things in perspective, I'm going to be successful and whatever I decide to do, you know what I mean. So so really, for me, it's just about that. It's it's that level of focus

you mentioned. Humble. Um, I don't know if you could feel this or knew this when you were giving your induction speech back in August, But did you know that Coach Belichick was behind you listening to the whole thing? I did not. I thought he was in their practice in the weight room or something. Right, So, Brian and I've done eleven of these now, Okay, it's he's no disrespect to the other people who've gone on in. He

doesn't come out and just listen to everybody's speech. And I take that as that's how special you are and were to him. And then when you hear him say after he comes up, after you're done, this is great that Rodney's in the Patriots Hall of Fame and he deserves to be in there. But there's another hall of fame that Rodney should be in. What do you think

of when you hear that? That's all I need. If Coach Belichick, the greatest coach ever coach and the most respected coach in National Football League, if he's looking at me and I know how truthful and honest he is, if he's saying that he feels like I deserve to be in a Hall of Fame, even if they don't vote me in a hall of fame, that's all I need. Because he knows he's coached the best coach's, greatest quarterback, coach of the greatest defensive player in Lawrence Taylor. He knows.

If anybody knows, Coach Belichick knows. So regardless if they put me in or if they don't put me in, I'm okay because what Coach Belichick said, and he had a lot of other great defensive players in Canton. When Ty went in back in August, do you see maybe a little bit of a log GM. It's hey, maybe we finally got one of our guys over the hump. Maybe we can finally convince these guys no disrespect to the greatest coach and the greatest quarterback out there. But

you can't. You couldn't play the game with just a coach and a quarterback. It takes a bunch of So you saw Seymour out there, You were out there, Willie were out there. I mean, that was a nice group that was out there representing to help out Ty, wasn't it. Yeah, And that's what it's about. It's about supporting our brother, and ty Law deserved it. Like you know, I've seen a lot of corners over my years, and Ty was one of my favorites, and I got a chance. I

was blessed to be able to play with Ty. I've seen his work, ethic and just his playing ability well deserved. And for us, it's not about self promoting. It's about it was about supporting Ty. If all those other things happen, fine, trust me. If I don't get in the Hall of Fame. I've had an amazing career, I've had amazing life. You know, I got a chance to be able to come out here and form French with you guys. You know, I mean I've known you for what almost twenty years, you know,

fifteen eighteen years or something like that. Those are the things that really matter to me, that stick with me. Those are the core values, being able to build friendships and relationships like that. It's not just about being in the Hall of Fame. But I love to represent the Patriots in the Hall of Fame absolutely, because I do feel like I deserve it. I've worked my butt off, but it's beyond my control. I can't control it, so

I don't worry about it. So when you look at coach Belichick, as you mentioned, the greatest Let's ever coached, do people ask you that when you're out doing your current job, do people ask about Coach Belichick? I'm always curious to know, obviously, I mean we're very biased here, probably right. What are people saying around the league When you talk to people and they ask you about coach

it's Coach Belichick and everybody else. Everybody knows that. Everybody knows that, and the more you see it, you see it now, like think about this season, you think of it, like for the defense to be that special, to be that good, Like, it's coaching. It's I mean, nothing taken away from the players, great players, but to get to that next level, it's coaching. And I see I watched these games every Sunday, I come back and I watch

him during the week. Again, it's some horrible coaches in the National Football League, and it's almost like the Patriots are cheating in the sense that they have such a smart coach. They're so well prepared. It's like having twelve guys. It really truly is. And that's the jealousy that it's permeated around the league. They can't be doing it on

the up and up. There's got to be some other advantage because they can't be that much smarter, right, Think if Bill was in Cleveland, Cleveland would be really, really good with that talent those guys, I mean, think of him in a couple other places. He's he's special, man. I mean, like what you guys are seeing and you're not biased, he is special because I've seen that. I

see a lot a bad coaching every single week. So I'm gonna try to tap into your memory here then, because I'm really curious to look about about things that he might have said. Are things he does behind the scenes when you were a player that you remember that we would never know about. Well, I mean, like there's nothing for a coach to go and grab a couple of plays. You know, it could be the fourteenth game of the fourteenth week of the season. He'll go grab

a play. Yeah, I remember this play showed up in week fourteen, but remember it was the same play that happened in week three against the Buffalo Bills. And it's like, how do you remember all this stuff? It's like he's constantly pulling plays and giving you advice and saying little things, asking you questions, picking your brains. But the cool part about coach Belichick, he's not a guy that sweats you like. He's not all over you like. He gives you freedom.

If he knows you're a pro, he's gonna let you do your thing. Like Tyni, we used to switch and I used to play corner, used to play safety, and then you know, move around. He didn't care as long as I ended up. He trusted veteran players, and that's That's what I love most about him. He gave me freedom, So last one here for me, um, and we appreciate

the time that you've taken with us. We started this talking about what it was like to be cut by a team, and now it's very evident to me that you came to another team and it's a family relationship. Can you imagine, you know, after all these years that when you come back here, you're still revered Rodney. Everybody says hi to you. Everybody in the building says hi to you. People respect you. Yes you're a Patriot's Hall of Famer, but people just love the fact that you're

part of this very special family. Do you feel that I do feel that I do, and I think it's I think it's deeper than just football. I think my mom rest in peace. She's an amazing woman. I think she's done an amazing job with her kids, especially me because I was the youngest, so I had a lot of different challenges and she was there are always very supportive. She loved on me a lot, and she taught me, you know, what it was like to walk around with humility,

with integrity and be respectful. And that's what I try to treat you guys. Every time I see you guys, I try to give you time. When we're doing radio hits back then, I'll always try to make myself available. Those are the things that people remember. What type of person you are, what type of heart you have, what type of character you have. It's not just about scoring touchdowns and interceptions and things like that. People remember those things,

but they remember your character more so so. Roddy, we have I'm going to change gears a little bit on that. We have video running in the Hall of Fame. You're in your sling, confetti's falling and you say you're in tears, and you say, this is what it's all about. Matt and I were talking earlier about maybe what it felt like when you got that first ring, and I'm curious to know that night as a player, what was that like?

It was, quite honestly, and don't take this as being disrespectful, and I'm just being one hundred percent real with you guys, but it was almost like an like a middle finger to everybody over all the years telling me he's too small, he's not gonna make it, coming out of high school, having your high school coach tell college recruiters. Oh, he can't play Division one, Division one football, you know, maybe

Division two, maybe Division three. That's what that was. That was a middle finger to everybody, said leave me the hell alone. I know how to play this game. I've been playing this game since I was six years old. And then once I got past that that anger, that frustration, a little bitterness, then I was able to really appreciate it for what it was, you know, my opportunity to be able to talk to kids and reach other people by having such a you know, being named as a

world champion, people take time to listen to you. Now, Oh wow, okay, So now I get a chance to talk to kids and young people and reach them, and just you know, I just try to do the right thing, man, try to use my position and to do the right thing. We're a very parochial area here. Everybody, you know, wants to hug everybody that's around here. But if we've never seen anybody who's come in from the outside who's maybe literally given the league a middle finger, and we've embraced

that mentality. The New England people have embraced Rodney's mentality about the middle finger to the rest of the league. They've carried it. If you hate us, you ain't us. I got the sweatshirt in New England versus everybody, and very rarely has somebody from the outside come in and made the kind of impact that Rodney Harrison is in the entire Boston community. I can say that one is somebody who's a lifelong resident Patriots Hall of Famer Rodney Harrison,

thank you for your time today. Thank you guys. I love the fans. I appreciate you guys, and thanks for having me. Thanks Rodney. Thank you for downloading this podcast. Subscribe on Apple, go Play, and everywhere else you listen. Like the show, please rate and review us. Listener comments and ratings help keep us high in the podcast rankings so new listeners can find us. Be sure to Checkpatriots dot com for more news and more podcasts.