The New England Patriots operate differently than the other 31 NFL franchises.
Few understand this better than Scott Pioli, a former NFL executive who worked in New England’s football operations department from 2000 to 2008.
Pioli, who most notably served as the Patriots’ vice president of player personnel (2002-08), heaped praise on the “culture” in Foxboro by sharing an interesting video to Twitter on Tuesday. According to Pioli, the footage shows Patriots staffers conducting early-morning player interviews ahead of the 2020 East-West Shrine Bowl, which basically is college football’s All-Star Game.
"CULTURE"-some talk it: some create it, live it & sustain it consistently.Those that THINK they know how the @Patriots win-this is just after 7am today-4 interviews in progress during breakfast-all Pats. Been done this way since 2000 when @TomBrady played in @ShrineBowl .@NFL pic.twitter.com/xGGsR8yeoQ
— Scott Pioli (@scottpioli51) January 14, 2020
While this might not seem like much, you just never know what such interviews can lead to down the road. And the Patriots’ relentless approach to seeking talent perhaps is one of the many reasons New England has won six Super Bowl titles dating back to the 2001 season.
Pioli has worked for other organizations, too, including the Kansas City Chiefs as general manager (2009-12) and the Atlanta Falcons as assistant GM (2014-19), so it’s not like he’s been living in a Patriots-centric bubble throughout his time in the NFL. He has seen how several teams operate on a day-to-day basis, and yet he’s still clearly impressed with how business is conducted in New England.
