Before the 2016 NFL Draft, quarterback Jacoby Brissett did not want his name to be called by the Patriots.
“I honestly didn’t want to be there,” Brissett told Devin and Jason McCourty Sunday night in an episode of the twins’ “Double Coverage” podcast. “When I did my visit there, my pre-draft visit, I thought, ‘Hell, no. If a team recruits me, it better not be them. “
Sure enough, to Brissett’s dismay, the Patriots selected him out of the state of North Carolina with the 91st overall pick. Brissett was heading to New England to back Tom Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo.
“I will never forget it, Josh [McDaniels] He called me on the phone the night of the draft and I didn’t have his number on file, ”Brissett recalled. “That’s how bad it was. I didn’t even have his number stored on my phone. I thought, ‘Damn it, man.’ “
Once he reached Foxborough, Brissett quickly changed his tone. He credited Devin, as well as some former Patriots, defensive tackle Terrance Knight, defensive end Anthony Johnson, and tight end Martellus Bennett, for creating a fun and welcoming atmosphere.
“I’ve never been with so many older guys who were so young, you know?” Brissett said. “One of the main things I learned was how to be a professional. We would laugh in the locker room and unzip when we weren’t doing soccer things, but when we were in soccer, everyone thinks it’s like the army, we were locked up and loaded. There was no game where we felt like ‘Damn it, this team could beat us.’ “
As a rookie, Brissett became the first black quarterback to start a game for the Patriots.
With Brady suspended the first four games of the season as a result of the Deflategate scandal, Garoppolo started at weeks 1 and 2 before falling with a shoulder injury. Brissett took over in the second quarter of week 2 and then started in weeks 3 and 4.
In his three games with the Patriots that year, he completed 61.8 percent of his passes and threw for 400 yards.
The next season, Brissett saw action in three of New England’s four preseason games. In the preseason finale against the New York Giants, he completed 71.8 percent of his passes and threw for 341 yards and four touchdowns.
“I got lost,” he said. “I thought, ‘I know I’m making the team. It’s going to be difficult for them to cut me off. I really felt like I played my best game at the time, and I was playing my best football at that time throughout the training camp and stuff.”
Little did Brissett know that he would not be on the list for the season opener. The Patriots had traded him to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for wide receiver Phillip Dorsett.
“I think Bill [Belichick] did something bleak [expletive]”Brissett said, smiling.” I think they changed me right before practice and still made me go out and practice. “
Brissett said he remembers the vibrations at Gillette Stadium when he felt the day of the exchange.
“I’m walking down the hall and everyone is looking at me like I’ve just committed a crime or something,” Brissett recalled. “And then I’m looking at my locker and Tom is sitting there with his head on his phone, and I’m like, ‘Damn, I hope it’s not about me.’ It was crazy, man.
“My body was frozen. I went and talked to Bill, and I didn’t even hear a word from him. In my head, I was like, ‘I don’t even know what the exchange means. Is that now And then, as soon as I left the room, they said, ‘Yes, we have to take you on a flight tonight because you may have to play in Sunday’s game.’ And I say, ‘What?’ I was like, ‘Hell no. I don’t even want to play yet. I don’t know where I’m going. ‘”
In the days following the exchange, Brissett received text messages from Devin and veteran Matthew Slater that reassured him about the situation. Brissett became the Colts’ starting quarterback that season, shooting for 3,098 yards and 13 touchdowns in 15 games.
“[Slater] It was like, ‘Man, listen. You’re about to go into some crazy times, but you’re made for this and it’s part of the NFL, ‘”said Brissett. “Honestly, that was my awakening to the NFL, it was being changed and then, next week, you’re out there in a game.” It was like, ‘We don’t care how long you’ve been here. You better know how to play. ‘”
Brissett and Brady now play for different teams, but the pair are apparently still in contact. Brissett expressed his appreciation that Brady still invited him to hang out in the Kentucky Derby, even after being traded.
“We became friends,” said Brissett. “You can text Tom and Tom responds like he’s your girlfriend.”
