A newly minted member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame came close to joining the New England Patriots late in his career.
Zach Thomas, the longtime standout middle linebacker for the Miami Dolphins, said this week on WQAM’s “Hochman & Crowder” that he considered signing with the Patriots after the Dolphins released him in 2008. His motivation: to stick it to Miami executive Bill Parcells by latching on with another AFC East team.
“After I got cut (by) the Dolphins, Parcells told me that, ‘You’re 35. Linebackers decline after 35,’ ” Thomas said. “So I’m like, man — it’s just the competitive nature — I want to shove it in his face, right? So I say, where am I going to go in the division? I said I ain’t going to the Jets. Hell no. I ain’t doing that. So I say, OK, let’s go visit Bill Belichick.
“So I go out to Bill Belichick, the genius himself. I wanted to learn from him, and they had that stacked defense. So I’m sitting across from Bill in a chair, and he said, ‘Zach, we’re going to offer you, but I can’t give you No. 54.’ I’m like, ‘Man, Tedy Bruschi’s a legend, man. I don’t want 54. I want 53.’ That’s (Patriots special teamer) Larry Izzo’s number, my best friend at the time. That got a good little smirk out of him.”
Thomas received a contract offer from the Patriots. If he’d signed, the five-time All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowler would have joined a formidable New England defense that had allowed the fourth-fewest points in the NFL in 2007.
But Thomas said loyalty to his fans in Miami, where he’d spent his first 12 seasons, ultimately prevented him from signing within the division. He wound up accepting an offer from the Cowboys and played his final NFL season in Dallas.
“(Belichick) offered me, and I said, ‘Let me think about it,’ ” Thomas recalled. “I slept on it and woke up the next morning and said, ‘Hell no, man. I can’t let down the fans, because they got my back.’ That’s one of those things that come back. They’ve always been good to me. I thought it was the right move, so I went to Dallas, playing out of position, and it worked out.”
Thomas went on to spend 2009 training camp with the Kansas City Chiefs, but he was cut before the season and never played again. Now 49, he was officially elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame last week along with Darrelle Revis, DeMarcus Ware, Ronde Barber, Joe Thomas, Ken Riley, Joe Klecko, Chuck Howley and Don Coryell.
