While it’s clear that not everyone who played for the New England Patriots loved their time there, many who played for the team really enjoyed it.
Count former linebacker Shea McClellin in the latter group. He spent two years with the Patriots from 2016 through 2017, and he called them “the best two years of my football career that I’ve had.”
“I definitely think it starts from the top, Bill [Belichick] and Mr. Kraft, and then it just trickles down,” McClellin said, via Mike Reiss of ESPN. “Then you have leaders like Tom [Brady] and Matt [Slater] and Dev [Devin McCourty] — the captains. When you come in as a new guy or a young guy, and you see how laid-back and easy-going the captains are; they’ll just come up and talk to you and genuinely want to know about how you’re doing and how your life is. I think that’s something that makes the chemistry and camaraderie that much better. When the older guys really care about you, it makes you want to play for them and for your teammates, and not just for yourself.”
McClellin said those who criticize the “Patriot Way” are simply misinformed.
“I would say a lot of guys don’t know what they’re talking about, because they haven’t experienced it,” he said. “When you have a winning culture, everyone is going to hate on it. That’s what comes with it, it’s the way it is. It’s hard for someone who hasn’t been in the situation to say, ‘Oh, it’s like this, it’s like that.’ It’s a winning culture and you’re going to get slander and hate — that’s just the way it is. From my standpoint, I absolutely enjoyed my time there — from the coaches to the owners, players and trainers.”
Of course, the vocal critic who brought the topic to the forefront this week did, in fact, spend time in New England, so his criticisms can’t be dismissed simply by saying it’s something that he has no experience in. The truth is everyone is wired a bit differently and the culture is hard to adapt to for some players. McClellin clearly had no problem.
