Wes Welker was one of the NFL’s most successful wideouts during his time with the Patriots.
However, it wasn’t all sunshine and roses for the diminutive receiver while playing in New England.
During an appearance Wednesday on WEEI’s “Greg Hill Show,” Welker revealed he didn’t always have fun while working for Bill Belichick. He also admitted to feeling like a weight was lifted off his shoulders upon signing with the Denver Broncos in 2013.
As transcribed by Ryan Hannable:
“Maybe a little bit. I was still upset about it. I did want to be there, but there was part of me — I just like enjoying the game. I like having fun, all those things. Coaching now, you learn a lot from the tactics and different things like that, but at the same time putting your own twist on it and understanding — I tell my guys all the time: ‘As long as we’re giving great effort and we’re on top of our assignments we’re going to be good. Once it’s not where we need to be, that is when we have problems.’
“Kind of being there and there’s a big mental aspect to the game of being prepared, being this, being that, all those different things, but also enjoying yourself and having fun playing the game. I feel like you’re playing your best ball when you’re having fun and enjoying (yourself).
“I think there were some times where I didn’t really feel that at times for different reasons — the guys that we had in the locker room, the camaraderie that we had was better some years than others. We had all these different things and when you’re one of the highest paid players on the team you’re expected to deliver and like a highly paid player. There’s definitely pressure on that and all these different things is tough and it’s hard. Coach Belichick is hard on guys and tries to get the most out of him that he can.”
On Belichick, Welker added: “The way he goes about it is there are no superstars. Everybody has their role on that team. Everybody is going to get called out. There’s no preferential treatment and a lot of time calls out the star players a lot of time just to set the tone with the whole team. Like, ‘OK, he’s talking to Tom like that, well obviously he can talk to me like that.’ Tom has such a great way about him of being able to take it even though it makes him mad and everything like that. He takes it and he keeps on going to work and improving and improving on his craft and everything else. Everybody else just has to fall in line.”
Despite constantly riding an emotional roller coaster, Welker was a borderline Hall of Fame wideout in New England. In particular, he played a key role on the 2007 Patriots, who had perhaps the greatest offense in NFL history.
Still, Welker should serve as a reminder that gaudy numbers and happiness aren’t always mutually exclusive.
