Zoltan Mesko was the New England Patriots' punter from 2010 to 2012. But in one practice, head coach Bill Belichick had him emulate the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year -- and paid him for it.
In a collection of stories about Belichick's humorous side published Friday at The Athletic, Mesko recalled the day he was asked to moonlight as superstar defensive end J.J. Watt, delighting his coach and infuriating quarterback Tom Brady.
From The Athletic:
Mesko: It was 2012, the year J.J. Watt was just swatting people's passes. He had so many batted balls. We're playing them and he’s like, "Alright, Zoltan, come over here after special teams." I get in the defensive huddle. It’s 7-on-7 so there's no linemen there. He's like, "Here, take these two tennis rackets and I want you to hit Brady's ball into the stands if you can. I don't care." So I'm jumping up and touching like 12 feet and swatting Brady like 10 yards when I could.
Linebacker Dane Fletcher: It was really pissing Brady off.
Mesko: Man, when I got him, Belichick was crying on the inside, like tears of joy. Brady would be like, "Zoltan, please don't knock this one down." Belichick was like, "No, no, I'm going to pay you 100 bucks every time you swat that ball."
Fletcher: It got to the point where Brady would pay $150 not to do it because Brady was getting so pissed.
Mesko: And Belichick paid up after every practice. He came with the cash.
That training had its desired effect. When the Patriots hosted the 11-1 Houston Texans later that week -- in the famous Letterman Jacket Game -- Watt had four QB hits and forced a fumble but didn't get his massive mitts on any Brady passes. New England built a 28-0 lead on four Brady touchdown strikes and cruised to a 42-14 win.
