Rodney's Promise To His Mother, Barbara, Came True

This past Friday night, former New England Patriot Rodney Harrison was at The Brook in Seabrook for a Q&A about his time on the Team. He revealed some facts about himself, the Team and Coach Belichick that were inspirational, funny and surprising.

It comes as no surprise that Rodney spoke a lot about Coach Belichick. He was angry when Bill Belichick was not chosen to be in the Hall of Fame for the first year he was eligible. His quote, "You guys made a mistake."

The fans who were in the audience, me included, cheered when someone yelled, "You should be in the Hall of Fame too, Rodney!" Something tells me that he and Coach Belichick both will make it in... eventually.

Rodney Harrison's Surprise Answer What He Loves About Football

Rodney said that he loves the violence of football. He also loves the pain. If he was ever up against a player, whether it was in practice or at a game, the thought in his head was, "I'm gonna hurt you." He loves the pain. I'm not sure how many other footballers feel like that. Do all footballers feel like that?

What Did Rodney Harrison Do That Made Coach Smile?

Speaking of pain, Rodney was very aggressive when he first came to the team in 2003. He would play every practice aggresively to command respect. He would get into brawls with his teammates and when Coach Belichick came onto the field to break up the fight, he had a small smile on his face. Coach liked what he saw in Rodney.

Rodney talked about his practice partner, Junior Seau and how much he loved training with him. He asked Junior once why he trained so hard and Junior said, "I get paid to practice. I play the games for free."

Rodney talked about his mother Barbara and how much love and respect he had for her. She had to raise three children by herself and taught them all how to be respectful of others, pray every day and to work their butts off.

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Rodney recalled how his Mom had a choice to pay the electric bill or to spend $40 to sign him up for football. He made his mother a promise to buy her a house when he finally made it to the NFL. He made good on that promise before she passed away in 2018.

No matter if you like the Patriots, or football in general for that matter, it is always great to talk to someone who has achieved that level of success in his chosen career. Rodney could not have been nicer and I look forward to seeing him again at the Brook or on TV.