Jalen Mills couldn’t contain his excitement.
He was meeting Bill Belichick. The Bill Belichick.
Even though Mills had signed with the New England Patriots and even though Mills was well aware he’d be working for Belichick, Mills was over the moon when he finally met his new coach.
“So he’s just talking to me,” Mills said of his encounter with Belichick at Gillette Stadium last week. “Telling me, ‘Happy to have you. Glad for you to be here. Excited for you to be here.'”
That’s when it really hit him.
“I literally turned my back to him and screamed out loud,” Mills said. “’This is Coach Belichick!’ Excuse my language, ‘this is [expletive] Coach Belichick!’ I screamed it loud. … He was still just like monotone, like regular. Just having a casual conversation with me when I’m freaking out. I was like, just one more thing, I’ve gotta cut you off. I don’t want to disrespect you. I just said, ‘Coach, you’re a legend to me. I’m happy to be here.’”
He was not just screaming in his head. Mills screamed out loud.
“It was almost like he didn’t even flinch,” Mills said. “He didn’t even change his vocal tone. As soon as I did it, he was used to it, like he was a rock star. Like this is another guy just screaming.”
That’s quite the first impression.
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