Almost every year, and sometimes multiple times a year, you will find Jon Bon Jovi at Gillette Stadium for a game, or even a practice.
It’s well known he’s a good friend of Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft, but how exactly did that friendship come to be?
Appearing on The Rich Eisen Show recently, Bon Jovi detailed how he first met Belichick — when he was coaching the Giants in the late 80s — and then also revealed a little unknown fact about the Patriots coach.
“One day [Bill] Parcells allowed me to come to practice and the first thing he did was yell at me and I said, ‘I know you. You’re my Pop Warner coach.’ I wasn’t even intimidated by that,” he said. “As our relationship [grew], I got more and more access if you will. I became sort of the mascot. So that young guy, Belichick, Charlie Weis, we became pals, like really pals. Parcells was still dad, he was the boss and he was incredibly kind to me to let me in the locker room, on the bench, travel with the team to away games, but my friendship built with Belichick and Weis and wherever they all went, I would go and visit and hang out.
“Come ’96 and that Super Bowl against Green Bay, I met Mr. Kraft for the first time and then I would go to practice every year. And I opened Gillette Stadium, much like I opened MetLife Stadium, so my NFL connections were going and going and going. So then Belichick would come on the road with us, but we never told people those stories.
“He’s a closet drummer. There’s all kinds of stories about Bill that the world doesn’t know because he’s so focused on work when he’s working. But when he’s not working, he’s a wonderful, warm, sweet guy believe it or not. And of course he’s a genius. But all that aside, the personality of the dad that I know, the guy that likes a rock and roll band that I know, that I have had more than one drink with in my life I know. That’s the different guy that I know. I’m allowed that access because I never take advantage of it.”
Something tells us Belichick won’t be elaborating that the closest drummer part any time soon.