Despite a record-setting career at Ohio State, Mike Vrabel struggled to find his place with the Pittsburgh Steelers—who had picked him 91st overall during the ’97 NFL Draft. The instincts were there, and so was the IQ. Unfortunately, the team never quite figured out what to do with him, resulting in four seasons where he hadn’t even started once. Bill Belichick, however, was a different type of coach.
So once the linebacker arrived at the New England Patriots facility as a free agent in March 2001, the vision was clear. “He was a big signing for us from Pittsburgh,” Belichick had said over a decade later, before adding, “He gave us a lot of leadership with a lot of energy, toughness and football character. He was a great addition.” Troy Brown (Vrabel’s Patriots teammate for seven years), on the other hand, said, “Mike certainly was not the fastest of linebackers, but because he had such a great knowledge of the game and he knew what was asked of him, mentally he was on the same page with Tom and Bill.” However, there was also another thing that made Vrabel sorely stand out.
It turns out the 3X Super Bowl champion was a bit of a class clown—the kind that wasn’t shy about pushing boundaries. During one practice session, he showed up wearing Giants gear as a not-so-subtle teasing attempt at Belichick’s past. On the field, he’d hardly rest, or stop trash-talking. And when it came to Tom Brady? Vrabel would make sure he took it up a notch regularly. After every interception, the player would spike the ball right next to his quarterback, and constantly yell during practice. Safe to say, Brady wasn’t much of a fan. In Browns’ words, “He was an annoyance at every position.” But what took the cake was an incident where Brady decided it was time to hit back!
During one particular practice session, Vrabel broke free into the end zone and started screaming, “Tom! Tom! Tom!” while waving his hands toward the signal caller. Yet, the QB threw the ball elsewhere. Later, during the huddle, the former Ohio State player confronted his teammate about the ignorance, to which the latter snapped and said how he was going to throw to “whoever the f— I want”. Well, that wasn’t a great start for Vrabel’s new role.
But he received the message very well. “He’s like, ‘Mikey, don’t ever wave your arms when you’re open ever again. I’ll never throw you the ball,” Vrabel recalled. “And I’m like, ‘Randy (Moss) does it all the time’. And he’s like, ‘I know who’s open. That’s my job.’ So I never waved and said I was open ever again.”
But even Brady knew behind the fun-loving player was a man who knew what he was talking about.
When Mike Vrabel switched his role to a tight end
“I think every pass we threw to him was a touchdown.” That’s what the Patriots’ former offensive coordinator, Charlie Weis, reportedly said about Mike Vrabel as a tight end. Over the course of his tenure with the Patriots, Vrabel caught 10 passes and returned all of them for touchdowns.
The veteran was also a part of the Super Bowl XXXVIII campaign against the Panthers when he caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady. The current Patriots head coach became the first defensive player to score a touchdown in the Super Bowl on offense since William Perry (Chicago Bears) did the same vs the Patriots during Super Bowl XX. But that wasn’t all. Fast forward to Super Bowl XXXIX, and Vrabel caught yet another touchdown from Brady.
It was a two-yard touchdown pass against the Philadelphia Eagles, which made him one of the 17 players to catch two or more touchdown passes in the history of the Super Bowl at that time. “We didn’t know he was going to become the guy who had all these touchdowns … in the playoffs and Super Bowls, but it worked out,” former Patriots linebacker Willie McGinest recalled.
“He was definitely reliable, and he made the big plays in the big games. So, we couldn’t mess with him after that. He proved his point.”
It’s safe to say that a temporary role, which started with Tom Brady avoiding him during practice, established Mike Vrabel as one of the most reliable receivers for the Patriots.
The post “I’ll Never Throw You the Ball”: When Tom Brady Sent Final Warning to Mike Vrabel for Copying Randy Moss appeared first on EssentiallySports.
