The New England Patriots are no strangers to criticism. If anything, it seems that the team endures wave after wave of negativity every year. Media pundits question Bill Belichick‘s authority or Tom Brady‘s effectiveness. Now, with less than 100 days until kickoff, Patriots players of past and present have found themselves embroiled in a debate regarding how well the tried and true “Patriot Way” really works.
Players across the NFL have started to question the “Patriot Way”
The Naysayers
Cassius Marsh – the guy who lasted less than three whole months on the Patriots roster – recently went on record to bash New England’s system.
“They don’t have fun there. There’s nothing fun about it. There’s nothing happy about it. I didn’t enjoy any of my time there, you know what I’m saying? It made me for the first time in my life think about not playing football because I hated it that much.”
Marsh definitely makes it sound like his time in New England was cut short because he wanted to leave, and not at all because he just wasn’t performing up to New England’s fairly reasonable standards: “Do Your Job” or get out. At the end of the day, Marsh’s comments about “not having fun” in New England don’t make a whole lot of sense. Football may be a sport, but for these guys, it’s also their livelihood. Hating your job is fine, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work hard to prove yourself. Something that, as many Patriots fans have pointed out, Marsh failed to do on several occasions.
Lane Johnson, a guy who’s never even played for the Patriots, also chimed in after Marsh’s comments.
“Everybody wants to talk about rings, rings […] I get a ring, it will be put away in a box. The only thing you’ll remember from your playing days – you won’t remember the scores – you’ll remember the people who you played with and how you felt. That’s the truth. You can have your rings, you can also have 15 miserable years.”
Unlike Marsh, Johnson isn’t totally wrong here. Rings get put away – as we saw in the Tom vs. Time special on Facebook, Brady has all of his rings locked up in a safe – and most players will likely remember their teammates rather than the scores. That being said, I’m sure the players with a few championships under their belts will look back on their careers a little more fondly than the players without.
Another Philadelphia Eagles player, Brandon Brooks, agreed with Johnson. Brooks played under Bill O’Brien, who himself worked in New England between 2007 and 2011. According to Brooks, O’Brien brought some of that “Patriot Way” to Houston.
“It’s been this way for like a decade. You’ve seen — Reggie Wayne did it. He retired. He went there for a training camp and retired. Shit is not fun there. I was under the same regime in Houston. I almost retired. Shit was miserable, every day. Every day.”
Except Reggie Wayne was eager to set the record straight himself.
“I can promise you Bill Belichick is not a party planner, […] That’s not what he’s in it for. I think he’s in it for winning championships, winning games for that organization.”
No fun in Foxborough? @reggiewayne_17 says that’s NOT why he left the Patriots.
“It was time for me to be an all pro dad.“
”I knew going into it, it was going to be different.“
”Bill Belichick isn’t a party planner.“ pic.twitter.com/3LU148gKQP— Lindsay Rhodes (@lindsay_rhodes) June 1, 2018
The Experts
Needless to say, when word started coming out that the “Patriot Way” was a sham, Patriots of past and present stepped in to defend their team.
Recently retired Martellus Bennett was quick to defend his former team – a team that helped put a championship ring on his finger.
https://twitter.com/MartysaurusRex/status/1002274455471771649
Patriots legend Tedy Bruschi was also quick to help put out the flames surrounding the team’s tried and true history of success.
Players that don’t like their Patriot experience are the ones that can’t take tough coaching, get eaten up by the pressure, blame others for failures and expect things are supposed to be given to them.
— Tedy Bruschi (@TedyBruschi) May 31, 2018
Veteran linebacker Dont’a Hightower also gave his two cents on the “Patriot Way”.
“I know – I mean, it’s not for everybody. It’s definitely harder than most places, but I mean, that’s part of it. A lot of guys know that when they come here. […] In the locker room, it’s not Bill’s job to make this fun and this atmosphere fun; it’s the guys around it. We have fun, whether it’s out here struggling together – blood, sweat and tears – or we’re back in the locker room or we’re hanging out outside of football. So, there’s a time and place for everything, but we know whenever we walk through the building, it’s time to work.”
Another recently retired Patriot, Shea McClellin, spoke out on his experience during his tenure with the team.
“When you have a winning culture, everyone is going to hate on it. That’s what comes with it, it’s the way it is. It’s hard for someone who hasn’t been in the situation to say, ‘Oh, it’s like this, it’s like that.’ It’s a winning culture and you’re going to get slander and hate — that’s just the way it is. From my standpoint, I absolutely enjoyed my time there — from the coaches to the owners, players, and trainers.”
Last Word on the Patriot Way
For players who have never played in New England, or for players who couldn’t even finish out a whole season with the team, criticism will come as second nature. Bruschi and McClellin put it best: The players that don’t like it are the ones who can’t hang, and the Patriots are better off without them. There’s a reason why the team sees high turnover. It isn’t because people don’t enjoy playing there – it’s because the team is only interested in the best of the best, the players who are willing to put in the work it takes to win.
Of all the possible things that might lead to the Patriots downfall, it definitely isn’t the Patriot Way. Of all the possible experts on this topic, is Cassius Marsh’s opinion really worth listening to?
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images
