Renowned coach Bill Belichick was well received by many viewers on The Pat McAfee Show’s NFL Draft coverage. However, some found it ironic that he served as a “Draft expert” given how his drafting strategy in New England had been criticized at times. Nonetheless, with his extensive experience and unique perspective, Belichick offered insights unmatched by others.
One story from his coaching career particularly stood out: the trade for legendary receiver Randy Moss in 2007 when he was playing for the Oakland Raiders. Belichick revealed how laborious the process of acquiring such a renowned player had been, describing it as being “like childbirth”. Following several failed attempts at completing this transaction earlier during the NFL draft’s first day, Belichick contacted Al Davis, then-owner and head coach of Oakland Raiders. When asked whether they would finally be carrying out their plans to trade Moss for a fourth round pick, Mr. Davis replied: “Yeah, we will do it.”
The deal was struck but there were still obstacles in the way before Belichick could bring his new acquisition on board. A physical examination and contract renegotiation needed to be completed first – which required Moss’ presence at Gillette Stadium immediately after their conversation with Davis ended. However, getting hold of him proved challenging as he kept hanging up thinking that someone was trying to prank him before Belichick eventually succeeded in persuading him to hop on a plane and come join his new team.
Moss passed the physical (which Belichick jokingly referred to being far less stringent) before putting pen-to paper again – but as events turned out, it was Moss’ exploits with the ball that left an indelible mark in NFL history after setting a new single-season record of 23 touchdown catches for that campaign. The Patriots also enjoyed unprecedented success during regular season games, winning all their matches to remain undefeated throughout the year before they met and ultimately lost to Eli Manning’s New York Giants team in Super Bowl XLII
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