Speaker 1: It's time now for another episode of Patch from the
Speaker 1: Past podcast, Matt Smith and polp Row joined by the
Speaker 1: newest member of the Patriots Hall of Fame.
Speaker 2: Mike Rabel and boy for two people.
Speaker 1: I know you'd think we're going to be byes U,
Speaker 1: but we were on the table, Mike pounding every single.
Speaker 2: Year, give rabel in, get rabel in. Finally year in.
Speaker 2: What was the experience like for you yesterday? Like, well,
Speaker 2: it was amazing it just to come up and the
Speaker 2: reception that we received, my family received, that I received
Speaker 2: from the first of all the fans that were here
Speaker 2: in the rain, and again I know that I wish
Speaker 2: that we could have had the fans, but we didn't.
Speaker 2: I think it was an intimate reception, just a lot
Speaker 2: of emotion. I don't think I've given myself a chance
Speaker 2: to just to go back and reflect on that, on
Speaker 2: the eight years here and the success and the teammates,
Speaker 2: and I think that was probably the coolest thing was
Speaker 2: to see them and see Dante and be able to
Speaker 2: you know, just catch up and you know, just see
Speaker 2: how excited everybody is for you.
Speaker 3: Can we go back to the start of that eight
Speaker 3: years and you know, sort of run us through your
Speaker 3: free agent visit here. We've heard a lot of stories
Speaker 3: about how it's not overly glamorous when.
Speaker 1: Line that they wind and Dinahim at the ground round.
Speaker 2: I don't know if you were. I was with Anthony
Speaker 2: Pleasant and so we probably got a little nicer experience.
Speaker 2: I think we actually went to the Capitol Grill in
Speaker 2: just nut Hill. Yeah, so because I think Bill had
Speaker 2: had history with with Anthony Pleasant, so he was probably like, well,
Speaker 2: let me take Anthony for for a nice meal. And
Speaker 2: but it was just you know, visit at the stadium
Speaker 2: in old Foxboro Stadium. And you know, again this isn't
Speaker 2: These aren't recruiting trips. These are trips to to make
Speaker 2: sure that you know, this is the player that we
Speaker 2: want to target, and the player can ask questions and
Speaker 2: get information and then make a decision. And so didn't
Speaker 2: have a whole lot of options, and this one was certainly,
Speaker 2: you know, you know, the best one for me.
Speaker 1: Do you you said yesterday during your speech that it
Speaker 1: was important for you to start. You know, in four
Speaker 1: years you did a lot, but you wanted to start.
Speaker 1: Did you get a sense maybe on that visit or
Speaker 1: early on Mike that these guys had a good idea.
Speaker 2: Of how to use you. Well. I can remember having
Speaker 2: a conversation with Bill and him saying, hey, really, all
Speaker 2: we need is what you did in that preseason game
Speaker 2: last year against Miami. And I'm thinking I don't even
Speaker 2: remember playing Miami in the preseason. But Bill had gone
Speaker 2: back and he had watched and there were clips that
Speaker 2: he must have seen that there was a vision for
Speaker 2: probably an extended playtime at that point in time in
Speaker 2: the preseason or whatever it was. And so then I
Speaker 2: started thinking, Okay, well, at least you know they have
Speaker 2: an idea of how they want to use me or
Speaker 2: what I maybe able to do there. Bill had talked
Speaker 2: about the opportunity, not guaranteeing anything, but saying that there
Speaker 2: would be a spot at you know, available pretty much
Speaker 2: at outside linebacker where you know, they would have some
Speaker 2: other players to compete with, and then see where things were.
Speaker 3: When you look at the way your years unfolded, it's
Speaker 3: almost like it was a perfect system for you. I mean,
Speaker 3: did you catch that right away, like they really want
Speaker 3: to use me exactly.
Speaker 2: To well, I don't think I wasn't being misused in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2: I had just transitioned from a couple of different positions,
Speaker 2: you know, was rotating in and was getting some playing
Speaker 2: time three and four years in special teams and third
Speaker 2: down packages, whatever that may be. But this was a
Speaker 2: new opportunity, some carryover from Pittsburgh, some different and then
Speaker 2: as things progressed and it was you know, learn this position. Actually,
Speaker 2: I think I played two seasons inside linebacker or a
Speaker 2: season and a half at some point in time, and
Speaker 2: you'll find myself at different spots, do you.
Speaker 1: I've heard this from many ex players, guys who you
Speaker 1: played with and everything like that. Were you able to
Speaker 1: get away with more as far as like maybe busting.
Speaker 2: Bill's Paul, Well, I don't know. I think the time
Speaker 2: is is that overrated? No, I don't think it's overrated.
Speaker 2: I think that there is. Like I said yesterday, I
Speaker 2: think I said things that everybody wanted to say, and
Speaker 2: I probably was just dumb enough to say it. I
Speaker 2: sometimes say the quiet part out loud sometimes unfortunately.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 2: But it's all timing and sometimes you know it. You know,
Speaker 2: it's it's a it's a turn to punch bowl and
Speaker 2: doesn't always work, but sometimes it works out pretty good.
Speaker 2: But but that takes a little bit of time and
Speaker 2: it takes you know, again, you have to be willing
Speaker 2: to take it and if you want to give it.
Speaker 2: And I think that Bill always was very conscious of that,
Speaker 2: whether that's players to Bill or Bill to us. You know,
Speaker 2: he knew that, you know, we had to sit there
Speaker 2: and and take it when we got the low lights
Speaker 2: and you know, we'd be on the bellustrator and it
Speaker 2: would be like, you know, what we can't do? And
Speaker 2: so it just it was a good situation with a
Speaker 2: bunch of really good teammates that that all kind of
Speaker 2: rallied behind that.
Speaker 1: Do you think maybe, I mean, you were able to
Speaker 1: back it up with you play though, Mike, I don't
Speaker 1: know if if that's a fifty third or fifty fourth
Speaker 1: guy that was trying to crack wise, it might be different. Well,
Speaker 1: you you were a community eye on all three phases
Speaker 1: of the game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, but I think that that's what makes
Speaker 2: a locker room. It's just different personalities. Again, you have
Speaker 2: to perform on the field and then whatever your personality is.
Speaker 2: I think that was there was no restrictions on Hey,
Speaker 2: we can just want a bunch of robots. That's I
Speaker 2: think that was the impression that everybody had and we
Speaker 2: certainly weren't that. Well.
Speaker 3: The best thing about Mike, and I told you this
Speaker 3: a million times, Mike didn't care who he was busting on.
Speaker 3: Professional I used to call you a professional ballbuster.
Speaker 2: That's what you were.
Speaker 3: I'd come in with like a TV shirt on one
Speaker 3: day and you go, look at this fraud. He's got
Speaker 3: TV and it didn't matter. He treated all of us
Speaker 3: the same, And I think that's probably permeated the locker
Speaker 3: and guarded respect in that way.
Speaker 2: Well, again, I think the fact that if you have
Speaker 2: a relationship with somebody, I think that's when you kind
Speaker 2: of go back and forth with them. It's like having
Speaker 2: a nickname. You don't have a nickname, you know, there's
Speaker 2: no such thing as a bad nickname. Just be appreciative
Speaker 2: that you have a nickname. That means that they know
Speaker 2: who you are and that you're kind of a part
Speaker 2: of the group. And if you don't have a nickname,
Speaker 2: you know, you better try to figure out why. And
Speaker 2: so it was, whether it was a relationship with the media,
Speaker 2: you know, it was a two way street. Assistant coaches
Speaker 2: and certainly teammates. Much has been made.
Speaker 1: You played in a different era, believe it or not,
Speaker 1: where and as during your career, the league was starting
Speaker 1: to legislate against defenses hard hitting and everything like that.
Speaker 1: When you look back at the Warner play Ties interception,
Speaker 1: I just thought it was very generous of Tie to
Speaker 1: give you credit yesterday to are you going to get
Speaker 1: flagged for that if that play happens today?
Speaker 4: Do?
Speaker 2: I don't know. I mean, I think that what we've
Speaker 2: talked about is matching the hand, and they've they've they've
Speaker 2: changed here in the last year or two about what's forcible. Hell,
Speaker 2: I don't know, you know what I mean, I should
Speaker 2: have gotten there sooner, to be honest with. They didn't
Speaker 2: block me. It was just a lucky play and tied
Speaker 2: it all the work. And but whether it's you know,
Speaker 2: as long as it's not forcible. You know, we've talked
Speaker 2: about matching a hand and same thing that they teach
Speaker 2: here and you know everybody else is trying to teach.
Speaker 2: And didn't hit the football. I'm glad that I did
Speaker 2: it so that Ty was able to catch it and score.
Speaker 3: Can we ask you a little bit about tight end too,
Speaker 3: and just sort of how that transition, how did it
Speaker 3: come about?
Speaker 2: Who's Who's I. I think Drew put it best yesterday.
Speaker 2: I had a bunch of energy and it'd show up
Speaker 2: three hours before the game and go out on the
Speaker 2: field and Drew it would be out warming up and
Speaker 2: I would start running routes and he'd say, well, this
Speaker 2: is this is one, this is two, this is three,
Speaker 2: four or five. Run this, you know, different routes and
Speaker 2: I'd run him on the right. We'd flip around and
Speaker 2: run him on the left, and then I'd go inside
Speaker 2: and wait for the game. And he must have had
Speaker 2: a conversation. Charlie was outside and said, hey, this guy
Speaker 2: could probably do this, and we had it in. We
Speaker 2: used it finally in the Chargers game in San Diego. Scored,
Speaker 2: we lost the game, so it did not get much attention,
Speaker 2: and then kind of snowballed from there. Whether we had
Speaker 2: two tight ends active or three, sometimes that that third
Speaker 2: tight end was never very happy when we got down
Speaker 2: to the goal line. And you know, so those tight
Speaker 2: ends probably hated the fact that I would go in
Speaker 2: there at times.
Speaker 1: Drew never got a chance to do that on the field.
Speaker 1: Tom came in, Mike, was there a time that you
Speaker 1: can think of? We remember, like you guys. The defense
Speaker 1: carried that team in OH one, for sure, no doubt
Speaker 1: about it, no disgrace.
Speaker 2: But do you.
Speaker 1: Remember time you said, you know what, this kid might
Speaker 1: have something? Not obviously nobody saw where he was going
Speaker 1: to wind up, but do you remember a time where
Speaker 1: you said, you know what, this kid might have something.
Speaker 2: I don't know specifically. It's just hard for me to
Speaker 2: to think back, you know, the two minute drive in
Speaker 2: the Super Bowl, and I just it's just hard for me.
Speaker 2: I just remember, his leadership is competitiveness. That that's what
Speaker 2: I enjoyed at practice, in the building, his work ethic,
Speaker 2: you know, I would always see it me. I mean,
Speaker 2: this guy was you know, he was powerlifting in the
Speaker 2: weight room. It wasn't you know the pliability that we
Speaker 2: saw later on. I mean this this guy was in
Speaker 2: there working and trying to train and get stronger, and
Speaker 2: he knew that he needed to develop and he needed
Speaker 2: to be a stronger player. That's what I recognized. I said,
Speaker 2: then this guy's in here is squatting and power cleaning,
Speaker 2: and you know, he's training differently than I think most
Speaker 2: quarterbacks in the NFL would be.
Speaker 3: At that time, when you had that streak, that winning
Speaker 3: three out of four. I mean, obviously winning back to
Speaker 3: back hasn't been done since.
Speaker 2: You know, do you look back at that.
Speaker 3: And appreciate just how special it was and what does
Speaker 3: it mean to you to be part of those teams?
Speaker 2: Well? I think that I don't look back enough. I don't.
Speaker 2: But we expected to win, you know, I mean we did.
Speaker 2: We We we had a feeling about us that when
Speaker 2: we each week, it was like, Okay, what's the game
Speaker 2: plan going to be and how are we going to win?
Speaker 2: And we expected to win? And that is a you know,
Speaker 2: that's a powerful mindset to be in. Now, we didn't
Speaker 2: win every game, but you know, rarely did did we
Speaker 2: you know, were we out of a game? Or did
Speaker 2: we think that we weren't going to be able to
Speaker 2: compete in each game?
Speaker 3: Really quick, when you talk about we expected to win,
Speaker 3: I want to ask you about seven two and just
Speaker 3: that mindset. Did did you feel like maybe you lost
Speaker 3: some of the enjoyment because you guys were so good
Speaker 3: and expected to.
Speaker 2: Never lost the enjoyment. I just don't know if we
Speaker 2: continue to improve. And that was the thing that I'll
Speaker 2: try to explain and I always try to explain, is
Speaker 2: that the Giants improved, you know, they were a wild
Speaker 2: card team and they they gave us everything that that
Speaker 2: we had at the end of the season, and then
Speaker 2: they went on their playoff run, and we just we
Speaker 2: never improved. We were good, we were really good. I
Speaker 2: we just never improved, probably as the year went on.
Speaker 1: Last one here, as we'll wrap things up, you said
Speaker 1: you don't have time to really look back, and you
Speaker 1: don't because you're always on to the next practice, the
Speaker 1: next game.
Speaker 2: And everything like that.
Speaker 1: Do you get a sense and I think you'll get
Speaker 1: a little bit better since maybe at halftime today, do
Speaker 1: you get a sense how much this region has embraced you,
Speaker 1: like even though the fact you're coming here and kick
Speaker 1: their ass a couple of times, but they do. And
Speaker 1: I think even while you're with the opposition, they remember
Speaker 1: you for those eight years here.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna probably realize that today, but I don't think
Speaker 2: I did. I haven't been back. I mean, honestly, I
Speaker 2: said that yesterday two thousand and nine. You get a
Speaker 2: call being traded to the Chiefs and have been back
Speaker 2: this I think maybe my fifth time. So just have
Speaker 2: not been back to this stadium to this just had
Speaker 2: a different after I left here, and I am excited
Speaker 2: just the people that I've already seen from yesterday and today,
Speaker 2: and uh, you know, it's just the people that are
Speaker 2: at work here that come up and have already said
Speaker 2: hello and congratulations, and so I'm very appreciate you guys,
Speaker 2: really appreciate it. Thank you for downloading this podcast.
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