New England Patriots Thread Mod Warning Post #253

TOss Sweep wrote:

One noticeable absentee from camp so far has been Rob Ninkovic. A lot of talk around him retiring seen as he has not been around. I hope that retiring stuff is not true and just him missing for a reason we don't need to know about.

Mike Vrabel, Patriots linebacker, 2001-08: "My indoctrination to the goal-line [offense]: I had maybe caught a couple touchdowns and was feeling pretty good about myself, and we went to practice one day and I broke free on a crossing route or something like that. So I start yelling, 'Tom! Tom! Tom!' and I'm waving my hands. But he doesn't throw it to me. I come back, and we're in the huddle when he says, 'Mikey, if you ever wave your f---in' hands and ask for the ball again, I'll never throw it to you. I know who's open. I'm the quarterback, I'll throw it to whoever the f--- I want!' That was the last time I ever called for the ball."

Rodney Harrison, Patriots safety, 2003-08: "This was when I first got to New England, we had become friends and we were in the weight room. I show up around 6:30 in the morning and he says to me, 'Good afternoon!' So the next day, I get the hint, and come in 15 minutes earlier. Same thing: He says, 'Good afternoon!' Then the next day it's 5:45 in the morning, and he makes sure to say it twice: 'Good afternoon! Good afternoon!' So I make it at 5:30 the next day and before he could say anything to me, I looked at him and said, 'Man, I don't give a damn what you say, Tom, I'm not coming in earlier than 5:30!' We both laughed at that."

Brian Hoyer, Patriots quarterback, 2009-11: "We played up at Buffalo and we couldn't fly back into Boston because the weather was so bad, so we had to stay the night in Rochester. We drove there, and we all decided we'd go out to dinner together. Tom being who he was, he usually couldn't come to a team event like that. We might be at Capital Grille and he is sneaking in the back door and then people realize he's there and he has to leave. But this was impromptu at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in Rochester. The whole team is there. And it turns into a beer-chugging contest. You have linemen, Julian Edelman, they all think they are going to win. Then someone says, 'I heard Tom is really great at chugging a beer.' We don't usually get to experience him like this, but we finally coax him into doing it. He does it, and let me tell you, you couldn't have poured out the beer faster into a glass. It was unbelievable. And he slams the mug on the table and puts both fists in the air. He walks away with a look on his face that said, 'You really thought you were going to beat me on this?' The place went nuts."

Rob Ninkovich, Patriots defensive end/linebacker, 2009-16: "One time, we were in a captains' meeting and he had a cool TAG [Heuer] watch on. So I went up to him and said, 'That's pretty sweet. Do you have a guy that I can talk to?' He has that knowing look on his face and says with a smile, 'Do I have a guy?' I told him I'm sure he had the owner, the president of the company, whatever. Fast-forward a couple days and he handed me a brand-new box. It was exactly the watch I had said was awesome. He didn't have to do that. But that's just the way he is."

Matt Cassel, Patriots quarterback, 2005-08: "One day in practice, I forgot to bring the guy in motion because I got locked and knew I was throwing to the other side based on pre-snap coverage. But I forgot the motion. And Brady immediately comes up to me right after and goes, 'Cassel, you can't miss that motion.' I was like, 'Yeah, but I completed the ball.' He's like, 'Yeah, but how the hell are you going to yell at them to be accountable when they see that you messed up that motion?' You have to be perfect at this position."

Sebastian Vollmer, Patriots offensive tackle, 2009-16: "We're playing Miami and I got beat clean by the defensive end. I'm on the right side, essentially turning around, and Tom is looking to the left. The defensive end has a straight shot at him and I know Tom doesn't see him. So I just yell out one loud, 'Toooommmmm!' He doesn't even look, steps up calm as ever and delivers the ball for a completion. Then he looks in my direction, points his finger and says, 'I heard that.' I'm thinking to myself, 'What incredible awareness he has.' Never rattled. I'm the one who screwed up and he's thanking me for yelling his name. It was like a panic cry."