When did you decide I want to leave new
England and I want to go to a new team?
I probably knew before the start of last
season that it was my last year before
last off season. I had a contract that
got restructured and then basically,
you know, from my standpoint,
I knew that at the end of the year I
was going to become a free agent for the
first time in my career.
And I had spoken about it with the
ownership of the team, Mr. Kraft,
and he was good with it. I had
spoken about it with coach Belichick.
He was good with it and that's what we
decided to do. I know I said this before,
there's no bigger fan of New England
Patriots organization than me, you know,
but at the same time,
that doesn't mean that I could continue
to play there at the highest level.
I wanted to prove to myself that I could
still perform at the highest level.
Did you go over to Bob Kraft's house
and sit there and say, Hey, uh, Bob,
this is it. We're done? Where do you,
where do you go to make that announcement
to these guys who you've spent your
whole career with?
I called up, you know, Mr. Kraft and
I, and I went over to his house and I,
you know, and I just, I went over
and I said, look, I just want to say,
you know, how much I loved and appreciate
what we've done together and I just,
I know that we're not going to
continue together, but thank you.
I was able to call coach Belichick
at the same time and thank him.
I wanted him to hear from me.
Were there tears?
Yeah, I was crying. I'm in a, I'm
a very emotional person. You know,
I have a deep caring for the people that
I've worked with and I wish nothing but
the best for them.
