Want to know what it’s like playing football for the greatest head coach in NFL history? Former Patriots cornerback Ty Law joined The Greg Hill Show on Friday morning and told quite the tale about his former head coach.
Prior to Bill Belichick's first season in New England, Law's contract had both a workout bonus and a reporting bonus baked into it, resulting in two checks hitting his bank account prior to training camp.
The next year? Only one check cleared - so Law went into Belichick's office to investigate:
“I go down and see Bill," Law told the GHS crew. "It was a conversation where you know he was like 'Hey, we didn't talk like we did last year,' and I was like, 'Well, I was doing this before you got here and when we talked last year you said OK...'"
"Just go to practice", Belichick told the Hall of Famer. So Law went to practice.
The next day Law goes back to the office again to try and get some more clarification. Belichick had the contract already laid out on the desk, highlighted, explaining why he didn't get his money.
"I said ‘Bill are you gonna really do this?’ … he said, ‘just go to practice.’” What Law did next is the kicker.
“So I went into the locker room and I just start putting on my stuff and leaving. Rodney [Harrison] is like ‘Where you going?’"
“Home!” says Law.
“You’ve gotta know how it works,” Law explained. “You can not fine me more than $5,000 a day in training camp. Everybody got the same thing, so as far as I’m concerned it was $100,000. I got 20 practices, I’ll be back day 21. Imma be back for that $6 million.”
So how did the rift get resolved? Belichick made him play in a preseason game... in Washington, home to one of the worst fields in the NFL.
“Bill will do that stuff, he’ll test you," said Law. "I get a call a couple days later... and he says ‘Look, you play the game and we’ll talk about your money.’”
You can listen to the full segment from The Greg Hill Show here:
Here's how the next two days went down, according to Law:
“I’m down there, he put me in the game at the end. Now, all Willie [McGinest] and all the boys is out… he put me in there with the fourth team and all that, all these young guys going all hard trying to be Ty Law. Willie and Lawyer [Malloy] and everybody eating hot dogs and laughing.”
Law came into the facility next day to watch film, and Belichick was already there with an envelope (Law's check):
“He put the thing next to me and said 'effing a–hole' and just walked off."
The best part? Belichick docked him for the three days he wasn't there. "We kissed and made up," Law laughed.
To be a fly on the wall...
Make sure to follow Mike on Twitter @mikekadlick, and follow @WEEI for the latest up-to-date Patriots and Boston sports news!
Related
