Asante Samuel warned Lamar Jackson about possibly playing for Bill Belichick
Asante Samuel knows a little bit about Bill Belichick.
The four-time Pro Bowler spent the first five years of his NFL career playing for the legendary head coach, growing from fourth round draft pick to first-team All-Pro in New England. His two Super Bowl rings came in the first two seasons of his career. He was a part of the only team in league history to record a 16-0 regular season record.
But Samuel does not revere Bill Belichick, at least as much as the rest of the gridiron universe. Brandon Marshall recently called him out for claiming the Patriots’ success was all Tom Brady’s responsibility on his I Am Athlete podcast. On Thursday, with the Pats kinda/sorta in need of a quarterback and Lamar Jackson publicly available via trade, the retired cornerback cast a warning into the Twitterverse.
Lamar Jackson, my brother trust me you don’t want to play for Belichick
— Asante Samuel (@pick_six22) March 30, 2023
Belichick is famously not for everyone. His autocratic approach makes him a difficult coach to please and has drawn criticism from former players like Cassius Marsh, Darrelle Revis, Brandon Spikes and, allegedly, Reggie Wayne. Now Samuel is firmly in that camp.
Samuel was great in New England and elsewhere after joining the Philadelphia Eagles, then Atlanta Falcons, in free agency. Between 2006 and 2012 he had 44 interceptions and a ludicrous 120 passes defensed. While he played for good teams after leaving New England, he wasn’t able to reach the postseason heights he enjoyed under Belichick. Samuel was 11-3 in the playoffs in five years as a Patriot and 3-4 in the final six years of his career.
Still, few players can relate to being a star and playing under the notoriously frosty head coach quite like Asante Samuel. Samuel took his opportunity to leave and signed a six-year, $60 million deal with Philly after playing out his rookie contract and then a season under the franchise tag. Now he’s warning Jackson not to let himself wind up in a similar trap.