It’s not easy to show signs of age under Bill Belichick’s watch. The New England Patriots coach is generally the first to notice. When he sees one of his star players slowing, Belichick has a tendencies of letting that player continue his decline on another team.
That wasn’t quite the story with Richard Seymour, who was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Monday. Seymour had four good seasons with the Oakland Raiders after joining the team in a trade with New England. But he was certainly slowing down. Seymour’s trade was once of the first that showed Belichick’s business-first mentality when it came to running the team. And Seymour doesn’t hold a grudge for it.
“(Raiders owner) Al Davis said he traded for me, so that’s the way I look at it. At the end of the day, like I said, the amount of respect I had for Coach Belichick and still have to this day – there’s a difference between business and your personal life,” Seymour told reporters on a call on Monday. “Personally, it was always a ton of respect. Coach Belichick, he would always send a Christmas gift to the kids and little things like that.
“In terms of the business side of it, I mean, that’s just the business side of the NFL. We saw that this year with all their guys. So, that’s a part of it. I don’t have any hard feelings or anything like that. That’s just a part of the way the NFL works. So, it may have seemed like it was some tension or something, but in my mind, it’s no hard feelings. We talk and we see each other. He’ll shoot me a text. I was down there when the team was here in Atlanta for the Super Bowl. I was with the team. So, all is well.”
When it came to Belichick showing appreciation for Seymour, he explained that came through when they were talking business. Contract negotiations were an opportunity for Belichick to show how much he valued Seymour.
“Coach Belichick, throughout our contract negotiations, he showed that he appreciated what I brought to the table,” Seymour said. “If all of those things are in line and you’re making an impact on the game and winning, who can complain?”
Seymour issued a number of compliments to Belichick during the course of the conference call. The defensive end went so far as to admit he didn’t know the difference between a 3-4 and a 4-3 defensive front when he entered the NFL. And Belichick helped him take a big leap forward. “You look at Coach Belichick and what he’s meant to defense, and to be drafted by him says a lot,” Seymour said. He amassed 39 sacks and 498 tackles during his eight seasons in New England.
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