Bill O’Brien’s ultimate “Teapot” moment came Dec. 11, 2011, when he and Tom Brady went at it on the New England Patriots’ sideline during a Week 14 win over the Washington Redskins.
O’Brien, then the Patriots’ offensive coordinator, earned the nickname “Teapot” from Brady and Brian Hoyer because of how often he would “boil over” in the quarterbacks room. Hoyer, then the Patriots’ backup quarterback and now O’Brien’s starter with the Houston Texans, even brought a teapot to Gillette Stadium and would inscribe his coach’s freak outs.
“Those were some good times,” Hoyer told reporters Wednesday. “Basically, any time we felt it was justified, we’d put it on the teapot like it was the Stanley Cup. I brought a teapot in one day. Tom and I thought it would be funny to just keep adding to the story. At a certain point, I started writing them down in my notebook. Finally, when we brought the teapot in, we started wrapping them around and eventually it was pretty full.”
The teapot stayed in New England when Hoyer was released and O’Brien moved on to Penn State in 2012. Hoyer wants the pot back.
“I’m not really sure where it is,” Hoyer said. “I know it’s up there still. That’s something we’ll have to find out, see if we can get it down here.”
Perhaps Brady can present it to Hoyer before Sunday night’s game, when the Patriots take on the Texans at NRG Stadium in Houston.
“You want to talk about the teapot, you got to ask Hoyer, he caused that, he was the one,” O’Brien told reporters Wednesday. “It was all written on there, so it would be like first teapot story and they would write it out until the teapot was covered. It wasn’t all me, that’s the thing, they blame that whole thing on me. …
“No. There were a few teapots in that room.”
Like the time Brady and O’Brien went at it on the sideline at FedEx Field.
“Oh, that was the ultimate,” Hoyer said. “That was around there. But Tom was on there for that one too.”
Hoyer was forced to play peacemaker during the heated moment.
“Yeah, I figured I’d let it go for a little bit, let them fume,” Hoyer said. “Then realized that it was a game to win. It was the fourth quarter and it was a tight game. I said, ‘all right’ and tried to just be a shield in between them. I think (Texans offensive Coordinator George) Godsey got involved. Then I remember literally a minute later, they were like, ‘All right, when we go back out, let’s run this play.’ Two heated, passionate guys who wanted to win the game. That’s what both those guys are all about.”
O’Brien is boiling over less now that he’s head coach, despite some at-times colorful language, as seen on this season of “Hard Knocks.”
“Not as much since he’s a head coach,” Hoyer said. “I think he’s more level-headed. But you know, I think he’s got to be more of a leader of the team, so he’s definitely, like I said, you guys saw Hard Knocks, you could see the language. But I can’t really remember one that probably would have qualified to get on the teapot.”
The Texans are 6-6 this season and tied for first place in the AFC South. The Texans have won four of their last five games, so it appears whatever O’Brien and Hoyer are doing in Houston is working.
Thumbnail photo via David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports Images
