Unlike some NFL locker rooms, the New England Patriots’ doesn’t feature televisions, video games or armchairs.
But theirs does have one defining feature one might not expect to find in Bill Belichick’s building: a gigantic boom box that typically resides in the locker of special teamer Brandon King.
The boom box — officially called a “Bumpboxx” — plays an important role in the Patriots’ locker room culture, so much so that King had to pull some strings to have one shipped to the team’s Atlanta practice headquarters ahead of Super Bowl LIII.
“When we got to Atlanta, we ended up in Georgia Tech’s practice facility, and it was really quiet in there,” King said during an appearance Monday on NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football.” “I looked around, and I was like, ‘Man, we ain’t got a Bumpboxx.’ So I ended up contacting (the company), and they responded very efficiently and got us a couple sent out. So it was great.”
“We’ve got to make it like home,” cornerback Jonathan Jones added, smiling.
King, who was seen dancing with the Bumpboxx after the Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Rams to win their sixth Super Bowl title, credited former Patriots running back Brandon Bolden with starting the boom box trend. The oversized music machine had been a staple in Bolden’s locker until he was released during final cuts last summer.
“It started off with Brandon Bolden,” King said. “He ended up having one at first in the offensive side of the locker room. And then we ended up getting one, and we kind of had these battles going on. … We’ve been in contact with Bumpboxx for a while, and they’ve always showed us love.”
