Picture this: ahead of the draft day, a top QB prospect gets handed a team’s playbook during his visit from the team’s general manager. But here’s where it gets interesting—taped to the last page is a crisp $100 bill. Not a bribe, not a gift—just bait. The idea? If the dollar bills are still there when the book comes back, it means the kid never made it to the end.
No speeches, no drama—just a slick little move to spot who actually does their homework. Sounds like a movie plot, right? Well, indeed it’s part of a movie plot—”Draft Day,” starring Kevin Costner as the general manager, Sonny Weaver Jr., of the Cleveland Browns, and Denis Leary as Coach Vince Penn, the head coach of the Browns. The two of ’em were on a hunt to draft the No. 1 draft prospect Bo Callahan, with the first overall pick.
And yeah, to check Callahan’s honesty, the GM and the HC sent him a playbook with a $100 bill taped to the last page. Now, if you’re thinking that it’s just a part of the movie’s plot, give yourselves another shot. In fact, this trick to assess a prospect’s character is inspired by none other than the former Patriots‘ head coach, Bill Belichick. Yeah, you read that right.
On Thursday, Denis Leary appeared on The Rich Eisen Show, where he talked about how he got acting tips from Belichick to prepare for the role of Coach Penn. When Eisen asked him if he remembered anything from his chat with Belichick during the production of the movie, Leary recalled one scene where the GM sent a playbook to the QB prospect.
“One of the things that, if you saw the movie, you know, they put the thing where they have the player look at the playbook,” Leary recalled. “They can tell that he looked at the playbook by putting a twenty-dollar bill in it. So Belichick said, ‘That’s mine. You know, I invented that.’” Genius Belichick.
So, here’s how it went down—Denis Leary gets the Draft Day script. And, like any smart actor playing a football coach, he hits up Bill Belichick for some insider advice. Just to get in the zone, you know? Leary hands over the script, and as soon as Belichick flips through it, he stops dead and goes, “Who the f**k came up with that $100 playbook thing?” Leary admitted that he didn’t know. And Belichick? Deadpan: “That’s mine.” Classic.
No wonder Leary believes that Belichick was a genius to use that trick. “Because you know, Belichick, Belichick, I mean, he is a genius,” Leary said. “There’s a psychological genius when it comes to everything.” Indeed! He didn’t just win eight Super Bowls (six with the Patriots and two with the Giants). But when it comes to giving coaching tips, Bill Belichick’s always to the rescue.
Why is Bill Belichick considered a genius?
There was a time in Rob Gronkowski’s early career when he made a bold statement that it takes ten defenders to tackle him down. But lurking in the shadows was Bill Belichick, who was listening it carefully. Did he appreciate Gronk’s statement? Absolutely not. In fact, the former Patriots’ head coach used a simple trick to keep Gronk grounded. He showed video clips to the team of Gronkowski missing several blocks, juxtaposed with his bold claim.
“He goes, ‘You’re telling everyone it takes ten guys to tackle you, how about you just shut the f up? ’” Gronk once recalled while chatting with Julian Edelman on his Dudes on Dudes podcast. “It was funny, he had the whole entire team laughing,” Gronk confessed. That was Bill Belichick deciding to keep the Patriots legend humbled. No wonder the man went on to become one of the greatest tight ends in the league.
But if you’re thinking that Bill was just limited to teaching a lesson to his players, think again. Because when it came to picking top talent in the NFL draft, Belichick knew who the right guy was. He had just one philosophy: “For me, tough, smart, dependable,” he once said to ESPN’s Mike Reiss. “That’s where I would start. Tough — mentally and physically. Smart — good decisions, good football understanding, high football IQ. Dependable — [in] critical situations, you can count on those players to perform under pressure.”
Look, Belichick’s mantra—”tough, smart, dependable”—wasn’t just a catchy phrase, it was the foundation of his team building strategy. Whether picking Tom Brady at 199th pick and winning six Super Bowl titles with him to drafting Matthew Slater in the fifth round. Not flashy, not a superstar, but exactly what Belichick loves: a guy who’s mentally sharp, ridiculously dependable, and one of the best special-teams players in NFL history.
The man went on to play 16 seasons with the Patriots and earned 8 Pro Bowl honors along the way. So yeah, when Denis Leary said that Bill Belichick is a psychological genius, he wasn’t talking the talk.
The post Bill Belichick’s Secret Role in Kevin Costner’s ‘Draft Day’ Got Him Labeled ‘Psychological Genius’ by Actor appeared first on EssentiallySports.
