Even earlier than the New England Patriots punched their ticket for a Tremendous Bowl LX showdown with the Seattle Seahawks, gamers and reporters detailed how head coach Mike Vrabel positively modified the Patriots’ tradition lower than a yr after he was employed.
For a prolonged piece printed Thursday, NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports activities Illustrated expanded on that individual storyline.
Mike Vrabel set the usual for the Patriots past profitable and shedding
Per Breer, Patriots gear supervisor Preston “Stick” Rogers knowledgeable Vrabel through the season that “gamers had been popping out of the showers and throwing their washcloths on the ground relatively than within the laundry bin.” Vrabel made it clear such actions would not be tolerated beneath his watch.
“I stated, ‘I can get that fastened fast,'” Vrabel instructed Breer. “I instructed the crew, ‘Each washcloth that’s on the ground, I’ve instructed Stick to simply throw within the dryer and put again on the shelf, and then you definately guys can use them, and you may determine whether or not they’ve been used and never cleaned and simply been dried.’ We haven’t had a problem with the washcloths ever since.”
As Nick Shook of the NFL’s web site shared, linebacker Harold Landry urged through the “Tremendous Bowl LX Opening Night time” festivities that Vrabel’s response was only one method the coach set the “commonplace” and “tradition” for a crew that missed the playoffs 4 instances in 5 years earlier than his hiring. Landry additionally famous that “guys have a number of respect for [Vrabel] as a result of he is been right here and carried out it as a participant.”
Vrabel
earned three Tremendous Bowl rings taking part in for the Patriots from 2001 by the 2008 season.
The washcloths have been solely the start
Per Chris Mason of MassLive, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye revealed on Thursday that Vrabel insisted forward of Tremendous Bowl week that his gamers be respectful of safety employees members who’re tasked with doing tough jobs at crew inns and the apply facility.
“I do know a number of us most likely have quick tempers and saying, ‘Hey, we play on the crew, why do we want a badge round right here?'” Maye defined. “However in one of many first conferences, [Vrabel] stated, ‘Hey, we should not have any issues with exhibiting our badges. Everyone’s received to do it.’ Simply little issues like that, that go a good distance of treating different individuals proper, and Coach Vrabel is the most effective at it. Simply giving individuals credit score within the facility that do further work, attempting to offer a $100 right here, $100 there. Coach Vrabel at all times says it really works out in the long term and it’s larger for them and the way a lot they do for us.”
Such tales might not assist the Patriots earn an upset win over the Seahawks this coming Sunday (DraftKings had New England as a 4.5-point underdog on Friday morning). Nonetheless, they do present why many inside the NFL community consider Vrabel may very well be on the verge of constructing the second Patriots dynasty of the 2000s.
