In every game across the league, you see defensive linemen getting their hands on balls at the line of scrimmage. It probably wouldn’t shock you to know that Bill Belichick, the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach, organized drills in practice to help prevent quarterbacks from having passes swatted down.
Of course, the quarterback taking part in that particular drill for the majority of Belichick’s 23-year tenure as head coach of the New England Patriots was Tom Brady. During the Week 12 Monday Night Football “ManningCast,” Peyton Manning reenacted the drill, in which Belichick would have equipment personnel hold up tennis rackets at the line of scrimmage, forcing Brady to find the throwing lanes.
Belichick offered some critique of Manning’s reenactment, before revealing he would pay the equipment guys if they batted down any of Brady’s balls. The issue, however, was that Brady would top Belichick’s offer, paying them $200 not to bat his balls down.
“They would try to bat them down,” Belichick said, via Awful Announcing. “They wouldn’t stand there like your guys did and move their rackets out of the way when you throw it. I’d pay them to knock Brady’s passes down. The problem was, Brady would pay them more. He’d pay them $200 if he went through all of practice and didn’t knock one down. Brady’s making more than I was.”
Bill Belichick shares hilarious practice story involving Tom Brady
These are the stories we expected to hear when ESPN announced that Belichick would join the Manning brothers for the first half of each “ManningCast” broadcast this season. This one didn’t disappoint and shows both the attention to detail Belichick had and how Brady would find a way to get the upper hand on his head coach.
No wonder they made up the NFL‘s greatest dynasty.
