Nobody outworks Belichick in the game of media control

SN's Ross Tucker, former Patriots player, has the inside story

Published Thursday, Jul 25, 2013 at 11:13 am EDT
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They're exactly right.

I've heard pundit after pundit talk about the New England Patriots being uniquely suited to handle the media scrutiny that will come in training camp as a result of the Aaron Hernandez situation. And while I detest groupthink and typically go against the grain if possible, in this instance they nailed it.

After media training from their coach, Patriots players such as Tom Brady know what the company line is and deliver it. (AP Photo)

As a guy that played parts of two seasons in the Pats organization, here's why:

Bill Belichick. It is really that simple. He did what he had to do in Wednesday's media conference, talking longer, much longer, during his opening statement than he typically does and showing previously unseen regret. He was genuinely apologetic, something that he wasn't even in the face of the Spygate scandal in 2007.

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Belichick then ended his statement by stating that he had been advised not to talk about a person in a judicial proceeding and then repeated that many times when asked questions by the assembled media. That's the Patriot Way with the media because that is the way Belichick wants it.

Based on my experience there, I can tell you that the quotes from the players when asked about the Hernandez situation in the coming days will be almost identical because that is what they will be told to say. I spent seven years in the NFL with five different teams, and I had never had a coach spend as much time talking about the media and there was no close second.

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"Unlike any other team or coach I played for, Belichick actually prepares the players for the media in team meetings," 15-year veteran and three-time Pro Bowler Chad Brown confirmed to me recently. "He's almost a media coach as well as a football coach."

He's right, and it was both intriguing and impressive to watch the process as a player. Belichick would start the morning on the treadmill reading all of the "clips" for the day and highlighting certain things he found interesting. The "clips" are a compilation of everything written about his squad that day.

Then he'd go into the team meeting, tell the players exactly which questions were going to be asked that day (he was about 95 percent right somehow) and more or less tell the players what the team’s stance was on those topics. I still remember several from our first playoff game after the 2005 season:

Jacksonville playing in a cold playoff game in Foxborough? Weather is not a factor. Jimmy Smith nursing an injury? He'll be there. Pressure going for a third straight Super Bowl title? New team, new season, and last two years mean nothing. All that matters is this week and focusing on this game.

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And with that, the players know what it is they are expected to say that day. This continues every single day, and I never quite understood the level of emphasis that he placed on controlling the message and am still not convinced it is necessary, but I suppose it is hard to argue with his results.

People wonder why the Patriots’ players seem like drones and say nothing to the media. Well now you know. Belichick's focus on it and discipline of players like Wes Welker that swerve outside the prescribed lines ensure the message is top of mind for players while the fear of punishment lurks in their subconscious.

Right or wrong, that is how they do things in New England and why they are in fact best suited to handle the questions they will inevitably face over the next couple of days.

Ross Tucker is a 2001 Princeton graduate who played seven years in the NFL for five different teams before retiring in 2008. He is currently the host of "The Opening Drive" weekdays from 8-11 a.m. ET on SiriusXM NFL Radio.