Pats from the Past, Episode 16: Jeff Benedict

once a year when the Dolphins were in town. I think my first memory of thinking of the sort of book potential of the Patriots story would have been on the final game of the two thousand and seven regular season, when the Patriots were in the Meadowlands to face the Giants and see if they could finish the season sixteen and oero and watching that game on television, particularly the way it ended, and especially with what had gone on that season early in the year, I remember sitting in

my house and when Brady connected with Moss and silenced Giants fans and basically silenced the largest stadium in the NFL. I was thinking to myself at that time, and that was obviously way before they would win three more Super Bowls, that there's a there's something going on here that's bigger than just football. The Patriots had become something iconic and something that was becoming part of the American fabric. And when I look for books to write you mentioned Tiger Woods.

I mean it's I'm looking for stories that transcend the sport and leave a cultural imprint on a country around the world, and I think the Patriots as an organization and as a team have done that over the last twenty years. Now. I'm not telling you that that night I thought I want to write a book about this team. I'm just saying that that's like sort of the first

origin seed for me. And then by the time you get to the twenty fourteen twenty fifteen timeframe, that's when I was starting to think seriously about a book and what it might look like, and that process of thinking about it takes time. I wrote two books during that period, one with Steve Young's autobiography and then one with Tiger

Wood's biography, and those are huge undertakings. But I'm just saying a lot of thought went into this from my perspective, and I think that this is a team that deserves that kind of thought. They've earned it.

You know, and when you say that, you go, man, he's right. This is a cultural As you said, Jeff, this is a cultural phenomenon, and we just think of this as a very successful organization. Just think of this as a very successful just like every football team. But to hear you say that puts it in a perspective Jeff. That my guess is people who are around it, and

maybe even real diehard Patriot feans maybe are spoiled. I don't know if that's the right thing to say, Brian or not, because when you hear very clearly articulate that, Jeff, that's that's an interesting perspective.

is just out, and so you've become fully immersed. And in order to want to be fully immersed in something, from my perspective, that's something has to be really big and engrossing and engaging, and I think it has to

tap into America. And I think what I love about the Patriots story, I mean, the winning is obvious, like you can look at it and see, now there's a body of work to say, well, I mean, look at all the Lombardi Trophies and the goal the rings, and the incredible victories and the statistics and all that stuff that we already know all that. When you look broader though, and you see how this team has fit into Americana

for the last twenty years. What's beautiful about the architecture is in the year two thousand, so at the turn of the century, Robert Kraft makes what I would call the greatest trade in the history of sports. I think the greatest trade in the history of sports used to be Babe Ruth from the Red Sox to the Yankees. Most lopsided trade, and it had the most impact. But I think there's a new trade now. When Craft wrestles Belichick away from Parcels and away from New York and

brings him to Foxborough. And then within months Bill Belichick makes the draft choice of a lifetime by picking the quarterback that clearly nobody else wanted. All of that happens in the same year, two thousand. The beautiful symmetry there is that is the start of a new century, and that's the start of the machine that gets built in Foxborough. And so for the first twenty years of the twenty

first century, they are the juggernaut of American sports. And as a result, as major things happen in American history, starting with the nine to eleven terror attacks in two thousand and one, this team is front and center in the storyline because that's the magical year that they go to the Super Bowl and win against all odds, and then we get that great phrase that Patriots are world champions,

and tonight we're all Patriots. That that, to me is what I mean when I say a team that's been in the center of American culture.

fan and have been for a long time. But my approach was that again trying to look at things differently and also look at them wide, So a wide Lens. I started with the idea that, look, there are three central figures in the creation of the dynasty, and they are the two obvious ones, Brady and Belichick, but then third the owner, Robert Kraft. And of the three, it was Craft who has been least explored and least discussed

in the conversation about who's most responsible. And so I also knew that there really haven't been any good sports books. And by the way, I see this as more than a sportsbook, but it's in that genre of sportsbooks, and there hasn't been a really good sports book where the owner is a central figure in the book. And so to me, it was sort of begging to go to that direction. Plus, it is his team, it's a franchise, and it's a family business for the Crafts. And so

I approached Robert first before anybody else. I did it in a sort of an old fashioned way, but I wrote him a letter and I introduced myself and I did things there that are this will sound kind of quirky, perhaps to some of your audience, but I did what I would do if I was a college kid right

out of college trying to get my first job. Is I essentially provided him some references, you know, reference letter, and you know, I invited him to talk to Steve Young, because Steve led me in his life for a few years to write that book. I invited him to reach out to coach Krzyzewski because Coach K had allowed me. I was the first journalist that Coach K ever allowed inside the Duke basketball program. And so I took a

similar approach here with the Patriots. I wanted to write a very intimate, personal inside account of how this dynasty was built and how it was sustained. And I wanted to start at the top because I really did want to tell the story literally, not only from the inside out, but from the top down. And so that was the

approach I took. And I spent a couple of years, and you guys know this to a certain degree because you saw me in your facility, and you guys were helpful in providing me with lists of video and audio that I wanted to see the kinds of things that I was trying to do in this story. I spent a ton of time at NFL Films in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, looking at video and listening to audio that's

never been seen or heard before. I was trying to find as many intimate ways as I could to tell this story, not from my perspective because nobody cares about that, but literally tell it through the eyes and the minds of the people who lived in.

yours on this is you're talking about. I think everybody agrees that builds the greatest coach in NFL history, and Tom's the greatest quarterback in NFL history, And clearly central to this story, or certainly a part of this story, is how did you keep those guys together? Can we only imagine the work that Robert had to do to try to keep those guys on the same page as

much as you can subject. You know, everybody talks about subjugating your ego when you come to work here at this place, and I don't think that they're saying that and it's bs I think they mean it. But to be able to mediate and keep these two people who are at the very highest of their profession, and to do it and succeed on the field. And again, nothing's perfect, but that's truly a remarkable accomplishment, isn't it.

I did in The Dynasty. But I remember the first time that I went to Robert's New York City apartment. I had interviewed him and been with him many times prior to this, but this was my first time meeting him in New York and it was in the midst of the heated debate about whether Tom was finished in New England or whether he'd come back and all that.

And I remember when I walked in the apartment, the first thing you see is you look across the room and there's these two beautiful windows that overlook Central Park.

They're big, and in between the windows were two framed pictures of the Beatles and they were signed by all four Beatles, and they were from the first time that the Beatles came to America to perform on the Ed Sullivan Show, and they had actually stayed in the building that Robert now has his apartment in, and I as we sat down on the sofa to talk, I asked

him about the photos and the Beatles. This led to a really interesting conversation which helped me make a comparison in the book where I compare Belichick and Brady to Lennon and McCartney. That whole thought idea came out of this meeting in Robert's apartment because what occurred to me as he was talking about he started talking about the breakup of the Beatles and how it was so premature that they were really just at the peak, you know, when they came apart, and they really came apart because

Lennon and McCartney couldn't get along anymore. They couldn't stand to be on the same stage together any longer. And they were the two brightest, biggest stars in music, and I just thought, Wow, like that's what's happened in Foxboro. Brady and Belichick are the two biggest, brightest stars in the National Football League. They have been for the better part of two decades. Robert Kraft has had them on his payroll for all that time, and starting in about

twenty ten, when Brady was halfway through his career. But if you looked at the actuary charts, he was really at the end of his career, especially for a guy who had just had reconstructive knee surgery, had missed a whole season, and you start looking at guys like Elway and Montana and Young and far and you know that he's really rounding the clubhouse turn. He's kind of getting to the end. But Tom knew he wasn't getting to

the end, despite what Bill might have thought. And that's where Robert's relationship with Tom becomes so crucial and pivotal in keeping him in New England for an extra ten years, that extra decade. And I think the relationship that he has with Tom and the relationship he has with Bill, and those are two very different kinds of relationships. I wouldn't value one above the other in importance, but they're both critical to keeping them married for an extra ten years.

And I'll close with this anecdote. I interviewed Rupert Murdoch for this book. He's not quoted in the book. He's one of numerous people that I interviewed that aren't actually in the book. But Rupert made a really interesting observation to me, and he said, you know that he's known Craft for a long time. And he said, if Robert had gone into politics, he may have gone down in history as one of the greatest diplomats in the country's history.

But instead he went into professional sports. And in my mind, this is Rupert talking. In my mind, he is the greatest diplomat in sports. And exhibit number one is how he's kept Brady and Belichick together. That's what Rupert said to me. I think when you look at all that that's hard to see. It's Brady's always got a ball in his hand. Bill's always got a headset on. They're on television every week throughout this dynasty. Robert is not seeing,

you know, the owner is invisible. The stuff that he does you can't see on television, but it's every bit as important as what Bill and Tom did during that twenty years.

at the same time. And in that meeting, Belichick rips into Brady Brady is the king of the NFL at this point, I mean, he's the man. And Stalwart and Moss are sitting in the back and they're listening to and watching Belichick basically verbally undressed Tom in front of the entire team, and Moss and Stalwarth are looking at each other. They're not saying anything, but with their eyes they're saying, Holy, you know what, what have we got ourselves into here? And Moss made the observation is which

was Wow. If Tom Brady is taking this, everybody else has got to get in line. And that's the power of Tom Brady's This is a strange word to say about the king of the sport, but the humility of Tom Brady is based in his willingness to absorb and endure that kind of thing for years. And what it did was it made Bill Belichick's job a lot easier. Because the veterans, the other stars, the other accomplished players that came to New England, the Rodney Harrison's, the Corey Dillons,

the Randy Mosses, the Wes Welkers, the Danny Ammondolas. As they come into the program New and they see this from Tom, they do get in line because he is the leader. And I think that that part of Tom's contribution has been tremendously understated. So to your question, Brian, does it wear on him? Of course it wears on him. He's human. I mean it would wear on anybody, and I think it would be disingenuous to suggest that it doesn't wear on him. It does. It's hard, brutal at times.

It wears on your whole family. I mean that's the thing. Tom is a person. You know, he has a heart, he has a soul, he has feelings, And I think this takes it back to craft. This is where Robert becomes so important, though, because Robert understands that, and that's where the father son kind of relationship that he has is so important. Because if it wasn't for that, there is no way that Tom stays here and endures it for that long. And I'll add one more thing to that.

If you want to talk about other great quarterbacks, you want to talk about Aaron Rodgers or Peyton Manning or Brett Farv or any of the other ones I mentioned earlier, here's the question, do you think any of them would have endured that for ten years? My answer is. I don't think any of them would endure it for three years. I just think that that's part of what makes the magic of Belichick and Brady is deeply rooted in personalities. And I think Tom is the only quarterback in the game.

And you can go back as many generations as you want. I'm not just talking about right now quarterbacks. I'm talking about all quarterbacks who could have done what he did here for twenty years. I think so much of that is in his makeup.

he means that. And he needed twelve to buy in because that meant everybody else bought in. But if Tom becomes bigger or his star gets bigger, and his performances are bigger, and he becomes you know, it's not just Tom Brady becomes Tom Brady. Bill's got to wrestle with Well. I still need to crack the whip the same way, don't I. I mean, that's his genius, isn't it.

It belongs with Bill. And I think part of the reason that Bill is a genius coach is because if you look at Bill's upbringing, the way he was raised by his parents, and not just his father, but also his mother, which he does pay tribute to her very eloquently at his dad's funeral, where you really see the way that she was also very critical in Bill's sort of nurturing and upbringing to become who he is as a man. But I think, look, Bill was groomed to

coach basically almost out of the womb. I mean, the things that he learned from his dad, and the fact that his dad was such a good dad, the way he included him and brought him along, always had him at his side, the fact that he was at the Navy field having a toss with Roger Staubach as a little boy. He learned to coach by experience, by feel by. He is that kind of child prodigy coach. He was

never made to be a football player. He was made to be a coach, and so I think you have to give him his due that you can't question his style. You can't question what he does, because that's the thing about geniuses. Geniuses are unique. They are the one and only. So of course he's going to be different than everyone else. Of Course he's going to behave in a way that people go, why is he doing that? That's what geniuses do. I really gained it a pre siation for this in

writing Tiger Woods's biography. He's one of a kind. I mean, we compared Tiger Woods to Shakespeare. I think you could make a similar comparison to Bill in the ranks of coaching, and I think that that. I mean, look, it wouldn't be a stretch to one day change the Lombardi Trophy name to the Belichick Trophy. I mean he's done those kinds of things, and so I think when you see him, and that's again why I compared him to Lenin in

the book. I mean, I think that that's the perfect analogy here is you have these two personalities, Lennon and McCartney, Belichick and Brady. They are on one hand like oil and water. When McCartney and Lennon come out of the studio, they don't go out and have dinner together. But when they're in the studio, they do things that no one else can do. And I think that's Bill and Tom. Did they go out for beers, No they didn't. Were

their families close, No they weren't. But when they are in a meeting, or when they are on the practice field or on some when the lights come on, they do things that everybody else can only gape at. And I think that that's really why the people of New England have witnessed something in the last twenty years that I just think you're never going to see it again in any.

but players are the ones who win it. He constantly, constantly gives credit to the guys on the field. Brady, who certainly would have every right to blow his own horn, what does he do. He's always talking about somebody else. If he talks about himself, he's usually talking about what he needs to do better. And then there's Craft, who just recognizes that when you have two stars like Belichick and Brady, give them the spotlight. Those are the two

guys that you want under the light, not yourself. Other owners in the NFL that have never learned that lesson and have real trouble would have trouble living that way. But Robert's goal is the same goal that Bill has, and it's the same goal that Tom always had, which was first and foremost win.

they knew or they got it. I'm not talking about Super Bowls necessarily or rings, but do you think that they knew We've got something here? This is special and this is different.

with your wife and kids and you get away. And if it's Bill, you know, you go out to Nantucket, and if it's Robert, you travel. I think that as this team started to accumulate hardware and they were repeatedly in the hunt to get back to the Super Bowl every year, even though they didn't necessarily get there every year, they were in the hunt every year, I think they all realized they had something going here that was different. Because, look,

Belichick's a student of history. He knows the history of the NFL. Probably unlike any other coach in the game today. Certainly he could see as the years wore on that what they were doing was different than what the forty nine Ers did under Walsh and de Barlow and Montana. It was different than what the Steelers did with Rooney and Bradshawn Knowle, and it was even different than what

the Packers did with Starr and Lombardi. He could see that because he knows the history and you know, Brady is a student of history as well, and then so is Craft, and I think they recognize that. And I think in Robert's case in particular, i'll just talk about that for a minute, is as an owner. I think he is super alert to the significance of history and legacy matters for him, for his family, for this organization.

And I think so when you look at his behavior in what I'll refer to as the back half of the dynasty that's post twenty ten. From my perspective, Robert is really focused on maintaining and sustaining that dynasty that has now been built, and that's where the focus on keeping Tom and Bill together becomes paramount. I think there was a moment with Tom. I remember one of the

interviews that I did with him. We were in his suite at the stadium, where normally his family would be on game day watching him perform, but this was not a game day, so we were in there and the stadium was empty, and Tom was looking out through the glass at an empty to Lette Stadium. Was a perfect

late summer or early fall day in New England. It was right before the opening game against the Steelers in the twenty nineteen regular season, and I asked him a question that would require him to sort of reflect on what has gone on here in Foxborough, and he was looking out and then out loud said, you know, how did all this happen? And I remember when he said that, I was thinking, that is a line that needs to be in the book and in the scene because of

where he was at that point. That would be the beginning of his last you know, of the end for him in New England. And I think that whole question how did all of this happen? Was really settling on him as a man. You know, at this point, he's in his early forties. When he came there, he was right out of college, he was single, he was a bachelor, he was you know, he was a third stringer. Now he's a married man with children, he owns his own business,

he's built a home in Boston. He's like he's made his life here and he in this stadium became the greatest quarterback the game's ever seen. And there he was finally taking a moment saying how did all this happen?

know how that affected Robert. How difficult was that period for Robert because he had a very say, similar relationship with Drew Bloodshell.

That deal was made right after Brady completed his rookie year where he was basically a practice squad player. Now we're going into the two thousand and one season, and Belichick has decided by the end of training camp in one that if he were going to start the quarterback who is better for this team, it would be Brady, and he actually tells Robert that in a private meeting right before the home opener that year against the Bengals.

Of course, he doesn't put Brady in the lineup, but a few weeks later, after the nine to eleven terror attacks, when play resumes the first game back against the Jets, when mo Lewis takes out Bledsoe. At that point, it's not a gutsy call to put Brady in, because it was basically just bumping him ahead of the number two

guy and giving him the reins. He plays so well that the real critical decision becomes a month and a half later, when Bledsoe's cleared to play, and under any other circumstance with any other coach, he gets his job back, but not with Belichick. And that's the moment where Bledsoe goes to Craft and I totally understand why Bledsoe did that. I remember I talked to Drew about this. I understand it. You don't have a heart if you don't understand why he wouldn't go to the owner. They were like he

treated Bledsoe like a fifth son. And so he goes to Kraft and tells him how frustrated he is. He wants Robert to intervene on his behalf. And here's where you see how Robert works is he does go to see Bill, and he does talk to him, but most of the time that he's there, he's not talking. He's listening and he's hearing out Bill's perspective on the situation. And after hearing all that, then he has to decide what do I do now? And what he decides to

do is nothing. And to me, this is the sign of brilliant leadership right here, because most people in his position would have been too tempted to tell Bill, first of all, I'm not paying this guy one hundred and three million dollars to hold a clipboard, you know, he's our quarterback. But he doesn't, and instead he goes to Drew and says, Drew, you know, I've talked to Bill and I've decided I'm not going to intervene. I could. I could intervene, but I don't think it would be

good for you. That's a pretty incredible statement. Does Drew like it? No, he doesn't like it, but Drew accepts it or says something about Drew as well, And that is the turning point in the dynasty to me, Like, this is where it really turns, because if this had been handled differently by the owner, it could have been a very different historical role that they went down. Similarly, if Belichick didn't have the courage to stick with his gut,

things would have turned out different. And then there's Tom. And the thing about Tom is I think Tom understood at a very young age the amount of risk that Bill took in placing the reins in his hand. Because if this goes south and this doesn't work and one Bill could lose his job. I mean, there's so many things that could go differently, And that's why I think that one season.

not on the field. These are the decisions that were made off the field by Robert, by Bill and by Tom that changed the future and not only of the team, they changed the future of the NFL. And you know, I think that all one season is it's magical in many ways.

Matt Smith. Well, I know I have to do it, but let's see. Was there a surprise of the people that you needed to talk to and when you did talk to them, you said, holy smokes, I didn't realize that boy, that was a real home run, and that person gave me insight that I never would have believed.

didn't expect, and that that happened sort of repeatedly. One of the people that for me, I would put on that list is Jonathan Kraft because he he doesn't really do interviews, you know, he doesn't talk to the press. I actually have tremendous admiration for people that don't talk

to the media. And that sounds funny for a guy in the media to say that, But what I mean by that is my experience over the years is that people who don't talk to the press usually have incredible things to say, and because they never open their mouths publicly, there's like this treasure trove of insight and stories and things of that nature that are inside them. And so Steve Young was actually like that. I mean, you know, they're just full of things because they don't talk about

themselves or their own accomplishments or their own experiences. And Jonathan's been there with his dad from the very beginning. He's been through all of this, and so I found that my interviews with him and the times that I had to spend with him were we're also roughly the same age. I mean, we're just a couple of years of part in age that we come from the same generation, you know, listen to the same kind of music, interested

in a lot of the same things. And I found the interviews with him because I had no expectation going in other than the fact that I knew he didn't do interviews, but that's about it. And he was a fantastic person to talk to and very enlightening for me and I look as a writer, there's nothing better than coming out of an interview and feeling like you're a lot smarter than when you went in. And that's how I felt every time I talked to him, and so I would probably put him at the top of that list.

He is this looming figure in Foxborough. He's on the ground before Robert buys the team, because Orthwine brings him in a year before he sells the team to the Crafts. So you have this figure who is like big in stature. Physically, he is a big man to begin with, but he's a big figure in the league because of what he'd done in New York. And I think that there's also this sort of beautiful dichotomy with him, is that Parcells represents the old guard of the NFL. Craft is the

new guard. I mean, Robert Craft buys the team right as the NFL is making this enormous transition to parody. And it's happening because of the introduction of two brand new things, free agency and the salary cap, neither of which Bill Parcells has ever had to coach with, because in all his years in New York, they didn't have either of those things. And so these are new concepts to an old coach, but for a new owner it's like, Okay,

this is the new league. And I think that the Robert and Jonathan Kraft and Andy wasenchuck they were all about taking advantage of these new sort of the new lay of the land. And so you actually had a built in conflict before the marriage even started between Craft and Parcels because they're looking at it differently. It's like Bill is looking at it from the way it used to be and Robert's looking at it from the way it's going to be. And that, to me is where

it starts. When I say it, I mean the friction. And that friction is evident from the very first time that Parcells calls Craft, which is like the night after he buys the team and tells him he wants to spend ten million dollars to resign Bruce Armstrong as a free agent, and right away there are questions about whether that's a good idea. And so I found the Parcels part it's really important. It's it's also entertaining, I will say,

as a writer, because you have great drama there. You have yelling, shouting and disagreements, and you have the Will McDonough angle because Will has a great relationship with Robert, but he also has this relationship with Parcels. That becomes a triangles never work in relationships, and that one didn't work.

So there's a lot there, And then I would say this, finally, let's face it, Parcells has a lot to do with why Bill Belichick gets on Robert Craft's radar, because it's Parcels who goes to Robert after Roberts on the team for a couple of years and they're not getting along well, and Parcels is trying to talk Craft into trying to talk Belichick into coming to New England as an assistant coach.

And no one could have imagined at that point, certainly not Parcels, that where that would ultimately lead is to where it did.

What would you say the reaction has been to this piece of work?

and so their reaction does matter to me. Plus, I just have tremendous respect for them and their work, and I was and I've told them this, so I'm not telling you anything I haven't said to them, but it meant a lot to me to see the way that they responded to the book after reading it. Both of them were kind enough to call me on the phone and tell me what they thought and then say things publicly that you know, we're humbling to be honest with you.

As far as the New England fans, I mean that really mattered a lot to me because I am a New Englander. And so I thought to myself as I went into this project, I don't know the Patriots, I don't know the Crafts. I don't know Tom Brady, I don't know Drew Bloodsoe. I don't know any of these guys. But the one thing I do know is I think I know my audience because I am part of that audience. You know, I know how people in New England are.

I know how we feel about our sports teams. I know that in this part of the country, our sports teams can in many cases become a substitute for religion. That's how serious we take it, and that's how invested we get emotionally. Like our families grow up with these teams. They become part of the dinner table conversation. It's who we are. And so I felt like I understood that audience. And so does it matter to me how they feel about the book? You bet it does. It matters a lot.

It matters more to me than what Jets fans or Steelers fans or Cowboys fans think. And I think that that reaction because I've just heard from so many New England people who are total strangers to me, but they can get to me through social media or other ways. And I've just heard from I mean, I can't tell you the number. It's just been a lot. And to have people say things like, you know, I grew up

with his team. My dad and I have had season tickets for twenty five years and reading the book made me feel like I was back there with my dad. That's a great thing to hear as a writer. So it's been a good experience for me. I've been just you know, it's been good for my family too. My family doesn't care about football, my wife and kids, but they got pretty invested in this project.

Brady's apartment hours after he blew his knee out. And Robert and Myra show up, and Giselle's there, and Tom's in bed with tears in his eyes. I mean, there are many places in this story where I felt what I was writing, and my whole goal was to try to get the readers to be able to feel, you know, feel what I was feeling writing about it, because it is an emotional story.

put on Abbey Road and started writing. And I replayed it a couple of times, particularly the sort of trilogy of songs at the end, because I was writing the end and that music for me and everybody's different, but for me in this medium, which is the literary medium, is a medium you can't see. It's not a film. It's not a play, it's not a television show. It's

the written word. And so ultimately, what you're trying to do, or what I'm trying to do, is I'm trying to give the reader an experience that's graphic enough that they feel like they can see it. And for me, listening

to music helps me do that better. And in this case, Abbey Road was perfect because I was making the analogy for that sort of being the end for this relationationship, and so I did listen to it, and when it was over, I mean I just I sat in this chair and had a long, long, just quiet sort of like wow, that's the end.

learned something. There's a lot of room for growth though. Okay, but just to just sort of wrap this up, you talked about legacy mattering, and I will say this, Jeff, if I'm ever fortunate enough to have grandchildren and people want to talk about what is the definitive piece of work that you would direct somebody to to describe the Patriots Dynasty. We're talking about this book. It's the dynasty.

You have created the definitive piece and that when you talk about Robert, that's the legacy that matters, isn't it.