Patriots were only team Jacoby Brissett didn’t want to draft him
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Not every player dreams of playing for the NFL’s greatest dynasty.
As Jacoby Brissett waited for his name to be called in the 2016 NFL Draft, the quarterback out of NC State was content to be taken by any team in the league — except the New England Patriots. Then, after 90 selections had been made, an unknown number appeared on Brissett’s phone.
“I’ll never forget, [offensive coordinator] Josh (McDaniels) called me on the phone on draft night and I didn’t have his number saved. That’s how bad it was. I didn’t even have his number saved in my phone,” Brissett said on the McCourty twins’ “Double Coverage” podcast. “I was like, ‘Damn, man.’
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“I honestly did not want to be there. When I took my visit there — my pre-draft visit — I was like, ‘Hell no. If one team drafts me, it better not be them.’”
Brissett’s issue with playing for Bill Belichick seemed to stem from the perception of the old-school, no-nonsense approach of the legendary coach. However, upon arrival to New England, Brissett quickly learned the value of the environment.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“Then I get there, everyone’s like, ‘Man, it’s New England,’ and then you just meet some of the dudes on the team like you (Devin McCourty),” Brissett said. “That’s when (Terrence Knighton) was on the team and Anthony Johnson and Martellus (Bennett) and it was just fun, man. I’ve never been around so many older dudes that were so young, you know?
“And one of the main things that I learned was just how to be a pro. How to be able to — we would laugh in the locker room and decompress when we weren’t doing football stuff, but when we were in football, everybody thinks it’s like the military. We were locked and loaded. And there was no game where we felt like, ‘Damn, this team might beat us.’ Jason you know coming into that from a different team, you’re just like, ‘Damn, the confidence here is crazy.‘”
Brissett, 27, was traded to Indianapolis after one Super Bowl-winning season. He has made 30 starts for the Colts over the past three seasons.