Ty Law wasn’t born a great football player. He earned his Hall of Fame talent.
Two of the former New England Patriots cornerback’s ex-coaches identified the traits which made him a great NFL player in a feature The Boston Globe’s Chris Gasper published Thursday. Former Patriots defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel and current New England head coach Bill Belichick spoke glowingly about Law and revealed the secrets to his success lay in his self-belief and dogged work ethic.
Crennel said Law’s self-confidence prompted him to embrace the challenge of shutting down the opposing team’s top wide receiver week-in and week-out each season.
“He felt like he could cover anybody,” Crennel said. “He didn’t care about who it was. He accepted the challenge and looked forward to the challenge.”
The four seasons Crennel spent with the Patriots between 2001 and 2004 gave him a chance to watch Law go the extra miles in order to prepare for those challenges.
“Sometimes because of that confident personality some people think that he didn’t have to work at his job,” Crennel continued. “He worked at his job. He would run a couple of miles a day in the morning before practice because he knew that his job required some stamina.
“He would put that time in getting extra running and conditioning in before we went to practice. I think that was one of the things that made him so successful.”
Law was a second-year player in 1996 when Belichick first arrived in New England as assistant head coach and defensive back coach. Belichick left after one season but returned in 2000, when his ensuing years of close observation would confirm Law’s status as a complete cornerback.
“There was really no weakness in Ty’s game,” Belichick said. “He was good in coverage, good on the jam, good against the run, and he could change the game with his ball skills.”
Law would go on to earn Pro Bowl recognition four times in five seasons he played under Belichick. Law also played key roles on the Patriots’ first three Super Bowl-winning seasons. It’s no accident he’s set to become the first “core” (Gasper’s word) member of the Patriots dynasty to enter the Hall of Fame.
