Bill Belichick Shares Praise Of New Patriots Hall Of Famer Mike Vrabel

The New England Patriots will welcome Mike Vrabel as the 33rd member of the franchise's Hall of Fame on Oct. 21, 2023.

The induction will be unlike any other, though.

Sure, the fact that Vrabel is the head coach of the Tennessee Titans will make things especially interesting. He will be in the middle of a season, using Tennessee's bye week as an opportunity to bask in the glory of his eight-year career with New England. The thing that will make his induction so different, however, is how closely Patriots head coach Bill Belichick will be able to relate to Vrabel.

Just listen to the normally indifferent head coach talk about his former player.

"I love Mike and what he did for us here," Belichick said during OTAs, per Pro Football Talk. "He was a big signing for us from Pittsburgh. He didn't play much up there but came here and became an immediate starter. He played in all of the kicking game, which he did in Pittsburgh as well. He gave us a lot of leadership with a lot of energy, toughness and football character. He was a great addition. I have a good relationship with Mike all the way back to when he was at Ohio State.

"Since, I've followed his coaching career, obviously from Ohio State, to Houston, to Tennessee. I had a great opportunity to work with Mike, and I look forward to working with him again this summer in Tennessee and at his induction later in the fall. There are a lot of great Patriots from my era as a coach in the Hall of Fame. I'm proud to put another one in, especially on the defensive side of the ball there. We got a lot of them -- (Richard) Seymour, (Tedy) Bruschi, Vince (Wilfork), I think there's a couple more we need to get in there and obviously, Ty (Law)."

Belichick has always been effusive in his praise of former franchise icons. Patriots fans got first-hand looks at that when Julian Edelman, James White and Devin McCourty all retired over the past few seasons. Hearing him praise the enemy? That's a little weird.

Vrabel has been a thorn in the side of Belichick since taking over as Titans head coach in 2018. He has a 2-1 record against the Patriots in his career, including a soul-crushing victory in the postseason that brought an end to Tom Brady's 20-year run in New England.

That level of success is bound to breed even more respect between the two Coach of the Year winners, with a near-decade long run of success together as coach and player building the foundation of a special relationship.

Who knows? Maybe we'll get some fireworks during joint practices this summer.