0:07

It's time for another edition of Patching the Past.

0:09

Matt Smith. You are bringing you this one all the way

0:11

from Bend, Oregon, and

0:13

that can only mean one thing. The og of

0:16

Number eleven's Patriots

0:18

all fand quarterback Drew Bledzo. Good to see you. Thanks

0:21

you for making some time for us. Yeah, thanks for making

0:23

the trip out here. And uh, I'm and I'm proud

0:25

of you because you know, most people like back

0:27

east call it, they

0:30

call it Oregon Oregon. So but you've

0:32

actually, you know, you'd pronounced it correctly, Oregon

0:34

Oregon. Yeah, Oregon. It's like what

0:36

you get shot with or correct So I

0:39

think, Manny, Patriot fans know what you're up

0:41

to these days, Drew, But most every

0:43

but not everybody does. Sure tell us what

0:45

you're up to these days? Yeah, we you know. On the

0:47

business front, we've we started this winery

0:49

the year after I retired from ball. My

0:52

last year was six and we started Double Back Winery

0:54

in two thousand and seven. And on the business front, um,

0:57

it's been a really cool ride. The funny

0:59

thing is that's just realized recently. I've now been

1:01

in the wine business for the same amount of time I

1:03

was in the nfl um and

1:05

uh, boy, it's uh, it's become a lot

1:08

of things that we hoped and a lot of things we never could

1:10

have foreseen. But it's a it's a really cool thing to be

1:12

a part of now. So now you're gonna make me waste

1:14

this what I thought. This was a good question, by the way, and

1:16

I just thought of this on the plane. You're gonna make me

1:18

waste this early So I was going to ask you, are

1:21

you a former pro football player who

1:24

just got into the wine business, right, or are

1:26

you in the wine business and

1:28

I used to play football? That's the latter.

1:30

I'm in the wine business and I used to play football.

1:33

That's unbelievable to hear you say that,

1:36

but it makes sense. Well you

1:38

know it's um now those things

1:41

you know, I mean, life is life. It

1:43

doesn't exist in a vacuum, you know. And and and the football

1:46

things has certainly helped us

1:48

in the wine business in a lot of different ways that I know

1:50

that We'll get into you in a little bit, but um,

1:53

but no, this is what we're doing now. So this is what I do.

1:55

You know, And uh, I don't, I don't.

1:58

I don't hide from the football thing. And I'd

2:00

love the football thing, and it's a really really cool

2:02

part of my life. But now no, now we're now we're in

2:04

the wine business. Why wine.

2:07

Uh, there's a few obvious

2:10

reasons for that, um, the

2:12

most obvious being that we really like

2:14

wine. UM got into that while we

2:16

were playing. UM. But then

2:19

when I discovered that my little hometown

2:21

was growing some of the best wine grapes in the world,

2:24

Like, oh, okay, you know, now I've got

2:27

Now I've got you know, a couple

2:29

of things working for me, you know, going back home and

2:31

to a small town and being having the hometown boy

2:33

advantage of being able to get

2:35

the right property, get the right winemakers,

2:38

you know, and and and use that competitive advantage.

2:40

And then to have the story you know

2:42

of being a small town kid and coming home.

2:45

UM, that really allowed us

2:47

to to go, you know, a level

2:49

up from what we would have done had we not had that

2:51

tie. And then the other part, Matt, that

2:54

that that is uh, you know, that's that's

2:56

important is like, shoot, you know, when

2:58

I retired, I was thirty five five years old. You

3:00

know, there's a lot of life left to

3:02

live. And you know, we talked

3:05

earlier a little bit about golf.

3:07

I'd like to play golf, but I'm not good enough a golf to go play

3:09

every day. I don't like it enough to go play every day, and

3:11

sitting around and you know, doing

3:13

nothing. You know, there's

3:16

no truer statement than idle hands being

3:18

the devil's workshop, right, I can get myself in trouble,

3:21

and I really, truly, from on

3:23

a personal, you know,

3:25

ego level, wanted to prove that

3:27

I could be successful again as something different

3:31

and and and start over and be a rookie

3:33

again and build something from the ground

3:35

up. So we were talking earlier before

3:37

we started here about all the different

3:39

wine companies out here, in wineries out

3:41

here. I think people would be

3:43

surprised to know this is a really competitive

3:45

business and there's a former team sport

3:48

athlete who's trying to get the ultimate pinnacle

3:50

of where you're going. Does this scratch your rich

3:52

from a competitive standpoint? You know, people have

3:54

asked me, You're like, hey, you know you left football, how do you scratch

3:56

that competitive itch? Well?

3:59

I love football, and I got into the

4:01

most competitive industry in the world. By

4:03

the number of products every year, there there are

4:06

roughly fifty thousand unique bottles of wine

4:08

made worldwide every year, and you got to try and stand out

4:10

in that crowd. So if you're not competing every

4:12

day at every aspect of

4:14

your business, you're going to get passed. Now.

4:17

The one nice thing is that you know, in

4:19

in uh, you know, pro football

4:21

or professional team sports, in order for me to win, the

4:24

other gas to lose and want them to lose

4:26

really bad, especially if it's the Jets. I wanted to lose

4:28

really really bad. But in our industry,

4:31

if my neighbor has success, that's actually good

4:33

for my business. And so there's a there's a

4:35

pretty open sharing of information, you

4:37

know, where we want our neighbor to be excellent.

4:40

We just want to be more excellent. That's fascinating.

4:43

But on somebody like a guy who

4:45

you played with, a damon huor do you want to bury

4:47

huor to bust his balls that your

4:49

wine is better than his wine? You know,

4:52

when you know the person, does it make it a little

4:54

bit more fun? I guess it makes it more fun.

4:57

And it's you know, it's it's it's a rivalry,

4:59

but it's a friendly rivalry. But we but

5:01

we share information, you know. But

5:04

at the end of the day, You're like, Okay, well we're still going to try

5:06

to be better, but we're also going to try to

5:08

help him out as much as as we possibly can.

5:10

Interesting, all right, let's switch

5:12

here to football. Was

5:14

it important to you to

5:17

be the number one overall pick? We

5:20

talked about competitiveness. Yeah, I

5:22

don't know how well you and Meyer knew each other going in

5:24

and right did Was it was that important to you, like,

5:26

I'm want to be drafted before you. Well, I mean,

5:28

look, if you get picked first

5:30

at Recess, that's pretty cool, right, you

5:32

know what I mean, Let's be honest, and

5:35

being the number one overall pick that you

5:37

know, that's something that you can wear as a badge of honor

5:39

forever and ever. You know, you were the you know, there's

5:42

other awards and so on, but ultimately, you

5:44

know, you were the best player that year, and

5:47

so that's a really cool thing. Rick and I actually ended

5:49

up being really great friends. They tried to play us

5:51

off as as rivals when

5:55

we were coming in. The funny thing is we

5:57

went for the first time we met, I was in New

5:59

York City. We flew out to do an ESPN

6:01

deal with Joe Eisman and

6:04

which at that point meant that we mostly sat around

6:06

and listened to Joe talk and Joe.

6:09

I hope you hear this someday. But

6:12

Rick and I ended up having a ton in common and we've

6:14

been great friends really since the first time we ever

6:16

met was you know, just saw him

6:18

a couple of weeks ago. And he's in the wine business.

6:20

Also, he's making some killer wine down in NAPA

6:23

under his Mirror label. But

6:26

yeah, man, being the number one overall pick, he can't

6:28

take that back. You know, it

6:30

comes with a whole box of tricks, you know, that

6:32

go along with it, not the not the

6:35

least of which being that the team

6:37

that picks number one is usually a pretty shitty

6:39

football team because that's

6:41

how they got to pick number one. But

6:44

yeah, no, I was that's a cool thing. What

6:47

if anything, did you know about

6:49

New England other than they're aforementioned lack

6:51

of football expertise, I

6:54

did not know very much at all. As

6:56

a matter of fact, one of the one

6:58

of the only players out side of Andre

7:00

Tippett that I knew of coming

7:03

in was Irving Fryar, and

7:05

he was gone by the time I got there. You know, Bill

7:07

sent him down to the Dolphins. Um,

7:10

I did not know very much. You

7:12

just said that. That just sparks something that

7:15

that game down in Miami, you

7:18

and Coates, Danny and Irving

7:20

Fryar. I mean, I know that there's

7:22

Patriot fans who couldn't care

7:24

less about football back of the time you

7:26

lost the game, which ultimately that's

7:29

what matters. But they're Patriot fans today to

7:31

talk about that reverentially

7:33

that you know, gunslinging game.

7:36

I assume other than the you

7:38

lookd time is kills all

7:40

wounds. You wanted to win the game. But do you look

7:42

back at that game and go, that was fun? Man?

7:45

Well, you also have to realize, you know, for

7:47

me, that's Dan Marino, right,

7:50

and you know that he was part of that was at the eighty

7:52

three draft class. Yes, and so

7:54

I was eleven when he got drafted,

7:56

and so him and Elway and Jim

7:59

Kelly and all those guys, you know, they

8:01

were my heroes right about

8:03

the time that I started to watch

8:05

football, And so all of a sudden

8:07

for me, you know, I'm out there going toe to

8:09

toe with Damn Marino. Um, and

8:12

you know it's sort of one of those whoever had the ball last

8:15

was going to win the game. Um, and

8:17

for me that was I mean, that was awesome, you know. And

8:19

then uh, I think the next week we had

8:21

a showdown that was very very similar with

8:24

with Kelly. Yeah right, and for

8:26

me it was really really

8:29

cool. But it was also sort of one of those deals

8:31

where like, Okay, yeah, no, I belong

8:33

here. You know, I can go toe to toe with these with

8:35

my heroes, um, and you

8:38

know, after the game, I can go get their autograph.

8:40

But but but during but during the game, man, I want

8:42

to try and take these guys down. It was a really cool time.

8:44

So I'm just gonna back up a little because that was actually

8:47

in your second year. But did you feel

8:49

any pressure as the overall number one

8:51

pick, Like I gotta be the franchise,

8:54

I gotta be the man. There's a

8:56

lot of responsibility here on my shoulders.

8:58

Oh for sure, you know, for sure, And

9:01

you know, and then you go, you know, as a small town kid

9:03

from Walla, Walla that went to school

9:05

a couple hours away in the weak fields of Pullman, Washington,

9:08

and then all of a sudden, I'm thrust into the

9:10

Boston sports scene, which I very

9:13

quickly learned was a different kind

9:15

of deal. Um, you know, it's

9:17

more sports or more of a religion than a pastime,

9:19

you know, in in that in that sports

9:22

scene. Um. Yeah, certainly

9:24

I felt the weight to that weight of that and

9:26

um, you

9:28

know, and it was you know, it was a it was a big thing. Um.

9:31

And I had high expectations for myself and I

9:33

know that the organization

9:36

in the region had high expectations for me. Um.

9:39

And uh, yeah, it was a

9:41

bit of a whirlwind. Um. Thankfully

9:43

we won the last four games my rookie year, so we

9:45

had we ended on a high note. But uh,

9:48

but yeah, that was a big thing. What was your first

9:50

meeting with Parcels? Like, first meeting with Parcels

9:53

was at the combine. Um. And I

9:55

actually turned twenty one at the scouting combine.

9:58

My twenty first birthday, I spent at at

10:00

Hooters with Alex van Pelt in

10:04

Indianapolis. You didn't have the money yet for Samuel,

10:06

No, no, we couldn't know. It was wah

10:09

but no. First meeting was in a hotel

10:11

room. Um. And I've

10:13

described it before. It's like it's like you're meeting

10:16

you know the you know, the you

10:19

know, the head of the mafia, right, you

10:21

know, I mean the big New Jersey, you

10:24

know, dealing. It was just one on one meeting in the hotel

10:26

room. Um, and we

10:28

sat and visited for a while. I don't remember the I

10:31

don't remember the conversation. I just remember being

10:33

very intimidated. And did that

10:35

help break the ice a little bit? You get drafted

10:38

everything like that, do you get a little memory flashback

10:40

and go, Okay, I'm going there and I'm

10:42

going with him, so at least I know

10:45

kind of what I'm up against, although

10:47

you don't really know what you're up against, you know. I

10:49

uh, he didn't. He did not let anybody

10:52

know until the pick was announced

10:54

whether he was gonna go with me or with Rick. Um.

10:57

You know. So, I mean I thought I was gonna go number

10:59

one to New England, but

11:02

I didn't know until the pick was announced whether I was going to

11:04

go there or to Seattle. Um. And

11:07

you know, back then, I wanted to go to Seattle because it was home.

11:09

Right right in retrospect, you know, I

11:11

got really lucky. Did

11:13

you think you should have started right out of the shoot? Of

11:16

course? You know, of course, you know, I mean you

11:19

you when you come

11:21

in as a number one pick, you know you want to be on the field,

11:23

you know, I didn't want to sit and watch somebody else play. Um.

11:27

You know, I'm certain that there could

11:30

have been some benefits from sitting and watch them for a little bit.

11:32

And I actually did get to sit and watch for a couple of games when

11:34

I got hurt midway through that season,

11:36

and it was beneficial to watch somebody

11:38

else play and let it slow, you know, kind of let it slow

11:40

down a little bit. So then when I came back after I

11:42

would after the after my my

11:45

knee injury, when I came back, you know, the game had slowed

11:47

down a bit just because I got to sit and watch for act

11:50

the competitor of you. Yes, I want to play.

11:52

I need to play the number one pick, But do

11:55

you see that the advantages like maybe

11:58

if there's somebody there, but then you're probably see

12:00

yourself, I'm better than this guy. Why is he starting instead

12:02

of me? Right? Well, you know, I

12:04

mean, I mean it's a it's you know, it's it's

12:06

a meritocracy, right, you know, you go in there, if you're

12:08

the best guy, then you go play right and m

12:11

and you know, I did feel like I

12:13

was the best guy. Um, but

12:15

at the same time. You know, you'd

12:17

certainly have seen other instances where guys have been

12:19

able to sit and watch for a minute and uh,

12:22

you know, and and you know have

12:24

more immediate success when they do take the field

12:26

because of that time. But you know, I wanted

12:28

to learn, you know, by being thrown into the fire. You

12:31

mentioned the finale in ninety

12:34

three touchdown past attempton to

12:36

win it, snow in the stadium.

12:38

Did you get a sense then, drew that you

12:40

know, maybe we might be onto something here, We're building

12:43

something here, which is why they drafted you

12:45

after all in the first place. You know I did,

12:47

and that that those those early teams,

12:49

we were really young, right, and there

12:52

was a very collegial kind of atmosphere

12:55

around the team. Um, we all

12:57

hung out together, you know, they were very

13:00

few. You know. Bruce Armstrong, you know,

13:02

was the you know, they had the

13:04

seniority. And obviously Tippett was there, my

13:06

my rookie year. Um. And I've got a funny

13:08

Tippet story for you that when he scared the crap out

13:10

of me. But um, um. But

13:13

for the for the most part, they were really young teams.

13:16

Um. And I think we you

13:18

know, we had a sense that we could change

13:20

things. Um and uh,

13:23

and you know, and we did. You know, we did change

13:25

things, and so they were really cool things to be

13:27

a part of. Tell me about Tippett, So

13:30

rookie year and

13:32

Andre was always very kind, but

13:35

he also was Andre Tippett, you know, one of the

13:37

baddest dudes to ever walk the planet, right, you

13:39

know, NFL linebacker now

13:42

Pro Football Hall of Famer, but he was also what

13:44

seventh three black belt. Um.

13:46

We were walking in to after

13:49

practice. So one day, and this is back when fans

13:51

really had access, and so there were kids kind

13:53

of hanging around the the

13:56

the facility, and so we're

13:58

walking up and I'm walking walking next

14:00

to Tippot and this little kid comes

14:02

up to ask me for an autograph,

14:04

and Tip looks down at the kids, the kid and

14:07

goes, being a kid, get out of your new autographs

14:09

right to this little eleven year old, right, and

14:12

uh, and I just like it. I froze,

14:14

and I just okay, Well, yeah, mister Tippets said autograph.

14:16

So I guess I'll just go downstairs.

14:19

Well Tip came down a few minutes

14:21

later, and he'd gone back to the kid and grabbed

14:23

what he wanted to sign and brought it down to have me sign. It turns

14:25

out he wasn't messing with the kid. He was messing

14:27

with me right like he was. He was trying to get

14:29

in my head, and he did scared the crap out of me.

14:32

But it was just it was it was funny. And

14:35

but Tip was always man. He was always great

14:37

to me. We're

14:39

gonna move forward here to ninety four and the

14:41

Minnesota game. What

14:43

happened at halftime of the Minnesota game?

14:46

Was it? What was what? That's

14:48

where something happened, clearly

14:50

because of the way you guys came out and changed and adapted

14:53

for the second half. Well, I

14:55

changed my shoes before the last drive, and

14:57

I'm not superstitious, but

14:59

but the I did wear those shoes for the next six

15:01

games. Um, But really, what had

15:03

happened at the end of that end of the first half, We went two

15:05

minute offense went down to scored

15:08

right before halftime, and Zolak

15:10

still claims that it was him, and I can't

15:12

which I was gonna say. I was gonna bring him up because

15:14

he believes he convinced somebody to

15:16

sing, and I think

15:18

he at least did say something to parcels.

15:20

But he's like, hey, why don't you just go two minute? Let the kid go?

15:23

And so we did. We came out and we went

15:25

two minute offense the entire second half, and

15:28

um, you know, people do for get

15:31

sometimes, you know, because we threw it seventy times

15:33

and came back and won it. But our defense also stepped up

15:35

and shut him out in the second half and caused

15:37

some fumbles and so um, but

15:39

that was, you know, that was kind of when I think, you

15:41

know, he finally just like, all

15:44

right, we're gonna take the reins off and live

15:46

or die by letting this kid thrown around. Um.

15:48

Do you look back at that game fantally? Oh?

15:51

I do, of course I do. Of course that game

15:53

was and I remember, you know, after

15:55

I threw that that the touchdown pass

15:57

to win the game to uh to Levin,

16:01

you know, God rest his soul. I

16:05

remember distinctly thinking,

16:08

all right, I'm gonna soak this in, right, because

16:10

you know, had some big games in college

16:12

and it was all kind of a blur afterwards, and so that

16:14

one I very very vividly

16:17

remember. After that, after Kevin

16:21

caught that touchdown pass, I'd stopped

16:23

and I just kind of looked around and I soaked it up

16:25

and took it all in, and

16:28

then we won the next six and made it into the playoffs.

16:30

So I do try to listen. And you mentioned

16:32

Turner and I can only think of three.

16:34

You could probably give me a lot more, but g Strew,

16:37

Kevin Turner, Terry

16:39

Glenn, Yeah, David Patton,

16:41

Yeah. I mean, I know we all nobody's

16:44

guaranteed tomorrow. But in a

16:46

sport where everybody's immortalized and everything

16:48

like that, and you think everybody's just gonna live forever,

16:51

that has to hit home in a way that you

16:53

know, just like me and you all the sweat

16:56

equity that you had with these guys, you

16:58

know, I mean, you develop a ken ship and brotherhood.

17:01

You know. I always pushed back when people

17:03

compare it to military, because you

17:05

know, when you're playing football, you're probably gonna

17:07

you might get injured, but you're probably gonna walk away. It's not

17:09

like going to war. Um, But

17:11

you do develop a brotherhood,

17:14

you know, with with these guys when you when you play

17:16

with him, and I remember Kevin called

17:18

me um after he got the diagnosis,

17:22

the als diagnosis, and man, I was

17:24

one of the saddest phone calls I've ever had in my life, because

17:26

he was he was talking about he goes, yeah, my son,

17:28

I can't play catch with him anymore. Um,

17:31

and uh, you know, to have have him

17:33

struck down, you know, when he was heading into you

17:35

know, some really prime years of his life, you

17:38

know. And then Terry Glenn, you know, had

17:40

finally after so

17:43

much turmoil in his life, he was finally in a really good

17:45

place in his life. You know, he was happy. Um.

17:48

And he and I actually had a really really good relationship.

17:50

He didn't trust very many people, but I think he trusted

17:52

me. Um, and he was and when

17:54

he was when he was taken, you know. And then

17:57

and then David Patton, you know tragically,

18:00

um, you know, goes away. And so yeah, it's

18:02

that's that's really really hard, um.

18:05

You know when you see guys go that uh, um,

18:08

that have so much to still give to the world. On

18:12

a better note, when

18:14

we were out here a month ago and you and r KK

18:17

were driving to the winery, you said, you're

18:19

talking. He said, oh, I've been down here since your wedding,

18:21

and you said to him, just like that,

18:23

you went, oh, by the way, and thank you for the wedding

18:25

present because of Terry Glenn, God

18:28

rest his soul. When

18:30

you saw that the team drafted

18:32

Glenn, was that like, oh, then

18:36

what did that mean to you? Well, so

18:38

in ninety six through for a bunch of yards,

18:40

and then in ninety seven, um,

18:43

something like sixty percent of that production

18:45

was no longer on the team. And so you

18:47

know, I'm not You're still trying to do the same things, but we don't have

18:49

the same level of weapons. Uh. And

18:51

then when when we saw I saw that we were going

18:53

to go get this this dude, I

18:55

was like, Okay, you know, now I got another guy

18:57

that can really go get it. Um. And

19:00

I think I don't know if that record still stands, but I know

19:02

at one point, even though he even though he had missed a couple

19:04

of games early end the season, UM,

19:06

he'd had the all the time rookie record for past receptions.

19:10

Was there a point in time in ninety six do you remember

19:12

a game, do you remember a series? Do you remember

19:15

anything where you said we're legit, We're

19:17

legit. Man. That's a good

19:20

question, that's a good question. Um.

19:22

You know, I felt like we had something good going, you

19:25

know, all the way through do you remember beating San

19:27

Diego and San Diego? Is that a Sunday night game

19:29

and the Chargers were good? Yeah, Like

19:31

that's a game the Patriots lose every single time

19:33

on the road. Is you throttle them? Glenn

19:36

had a huge game in that game. Yeah, we gave h them a good beating

19:38

that day. Like, I don't know if that was the game,

19:40

but that's the one that sicks out of me. That

19:42

was. That one was a big one. Um.

19:45

I remember late in the season, you know, we had to

19:47

come back and beat the Giants down

19:49

on the metal ends, um,

19:51

you know, to to keep our keep

19:53

our hopes alive because we ended up having to buy. But

19:56

but you know, with two games to go in the

19:58

season, I we weren't guaranteed

20:00

playoffs, right you

20:03

know, so yeah, there were there were a number of games that

20:05

season. But yeah, given the you

20:07

know, given the Chargers a beat down out there, that one

20:09

was pretty fun. And that was one of those games where the guys

20:11

took such a great care of me. You know, I think I came out

20:13

of that game without any grass stains. You know. It's those are

20:16

fun games, absolutely. What

20:18

do you remember about the AFC championship

20:21

game in Jacksonville and how electric

20:23

the stadium was. Not only when the

20:25

game started, of course I say electric the lights go

20:27

out in the middle of the game, but

20:29

afterwards where my

20:32

words here. It was like, I

20:36

think Patriot fans knew that they were onto something when

20:38

they drafted you. You know what, there's now hope,

20:40

we've got a legitimate coach, We've got an

20:42

owner now who's committed to the team.

20:45

And at that point in time all that culminated

20:47

and going to the Super Bowl, did you feel

20:50

like the region you talked about Boston

20:52

Sports and you didn't know what you're getting yourself

20:54

into. At that point in time, did you go, now, I

20:56

know what we're getting into here. You know,

21:00

it's when you're in the middle of it, you're

21:02

just focused on playing ball, right and

21:05

so, um, I

21:07

do know that that was It was pretty amazing.

21:09

You know, first of all the week before against

21:11

the Steelers, but the fog, um,

21:14

you know where the Steelers were. I think I think we were

21:16

underdogs in those games, even though we were at home.

21:18

It seemed like we were at least we felt like we're

21:21

under dogs. Um. But then when

21:23

yeah, when we uh, when otis

21:25

returned that that fumble

21:28

for a touchdown and that ice the game. We're like, man,

21:30

we're going to freaking Super Bowl. Um.

21:32

And I think that it was it was cool for us because

21:35

we were you know when when

21:37

when we got there, um,

21:39

you know, we were the fourth team by a long

21:41

ways in New England and uh

21:44

and all of a sudden we were relevant in the New England sports

21:46

scene. Um, you know.

21:48

And yeah, no, I felt like,

21:50

okay, yeah, and then we arrived We're onto something. It

21:54

didn't end the way you wanted it to end,

21:58

but you just said something. We

22:00

were fourth, you were dog four at

22:02

that point in time. Do you take pride

22:04

Drew in saying hey, I was

22:06

a part or resurrecting it and

22:09

igniting a flame in New

22:11

England and in the Boston region where

22:13

the Patriots are now they're one

22:15

and you can't even see them at two? Yeah,

22:18

you know, I think I think I was just with William mc ginnis

22:20

down at the Super Bowl. And I've shared

22:22

this story before, but I remember

22:26

the one

22:28

Super Bowl, um or I guess so too.

22:30

After the one season, you know, we're there

22:32

and Tommy's playing, and but Willie came over

22:35

to me in pregame and he goes, hey, never

22:37

forget we started this shit right.

22:40

And you know, when you're when you're

22:43

when you're a part of whether you're talking about

22:46

cultural change in society

22:48

or cultural change in a business, or cultural

22:50

change in a sports organization, cultural

22:53

change is hard. And we

22:55

took great pride in the fact that we took you

22:57

know, a franchise that was a perennial you

23:00

know, doormat to a

23:02

team that was a contender, than

23:04

a team that people cared about and knew

23:07

about um. And so yeah, we take

23:09

a lot of pride in the fact that that that those teams

23:11

changed it. These

23:14

are my words. Did Parcel's antics

23:17

for lack of a better word, did

23:19

that ruins

23:21

maybe too strong? But that did that affect

23:24

you and others? Not from

23:26

a game preparations here, but I'm not saying that, but when

23:28

you look back that, yeah, we lotched the Super Bowl

23:30

and guys like McGinnis, malloy

23:33

tie talk about seeing the green

23:35

confetti come down and they could never get that out of mind.

23:38

But you know, did that cause

23:41

a stain or leave a stain for you? Like, you

23:43

know what, that wasn't what I wanted from a Super Bowl, Like, if

23:45

we're gonna lose, let's lose. But all

23:48

this other michigassa was going on just was

23:50

unnecessary, you know. It was, Um,

23:53

well, first of all, I've never watched that game. I've

23:56

never seen I've never seen film. I've never watched

23:58

that Super Bowl. Is too painful, you know, it's would

24:01

you have any interest in ever doing that? I don't. I

24:03

don't think so. You know, it's just it's it's too

24:05

painful when you're when you're when you're that close

24:07

to the ultimate goal and it doesn't work out. That's it's

24:10

you know, it'd be like, you know, you hear

24:12

about climbers that go climb Everest and they

24:14

get within you know, a you know a few

24:16

hundred feet of the summit and you don't get to get there, um,

24:19

and you have to turn around. So um,

24:21

but I do know that it was it was frustrating.

24:25

You know, during that week we've been on this unexpected

24:28

run to the Super Bowl. Nobody

24:30

had predicted that we would that we would be there.

24:33

Um, and that wasn't the story. The

24:35

story was whether or not Bill was going to the Jets.

24:38

Um. That part was frustrating to us.

24:41

So then were you happy

24:44

or did you think, you know, what change

24:46

is going to be good here? We could use a change of pace

24:48

here, and it happened

24:50

to be Pete, So let's go. I think

24:53

the change is going to be good and we'll be okay.

24:55

Did you embrace that? I guess is maybe the better way

24:57

to say it. I did. I did, And I think

24:59

we did. UM as a team, I think

25:01

we we had a lot of hope that we were going to build

25:03

something that was very sustainable going forward. Um.

25:07

You know, unfortunately, we had some drafts that didn't work

25:09

out, and we had some untimely injuries, and it

25:11

just it didn't go where it should

25:13

have gone. And I think, you know, Pete took

25:15

the brunt of that UM in most

25:18

case, in most ways, you know, unjustifiably.

25:21

UM. But we just, you know,

25:23

it was it just didn't work out

25:25

the way that we wanted it too. But we had a lot of

25:27

hope that things were going to go. Is that the reason

25:30

why it didn't for all those reasons drew that,

25:32

you know, because everybody talks about what the shape

25:34

the roster was in and all your leadership

25:36

and everything like that young quarterback Primate's career

25:39

was it those myriads of things, the injuries,

25:42

poor drafting. It isn't like yeats

25:44

your fault, Pete or yeats your fault whoever.

25:47

All those teams contributed to it. All those things

25:49

contributed to it, you know. And you

25:51

know, winning at the NFL level is

25:54

so hard, um. And

25:57

you know most of the games come down to one

25:59

or two play is at the end. Most of the games are really

26:01

close. Um. And when

26:03

you have UM, you know, some of

26:05

your you know, your playmakers that

26:08

aren't available. You know sometimes that one

26:10

play you know, whether it's you know, Meggat

26:12

making a guy miss and getting a big first down or

26:15

um, you know, or you know

26:17

Terry or Sean, you know that if they're at

26:19

one hundred percent and maybe we're maybe we're still rocking

26:21

and rolling. Um. But

26:23

it was it was all of those things that contributed

26:25

and that you

26:28

know, we didn't make the run that we expected to run to

26:30

make. You're in a much better place now and

26:32

you don't seem like a person who has regret. But

26:35

you talked to a lot of professional athletes, coaches

26:37

and everything like that, and they'll tell you it's the failure

26:40

that keeps them up, not the success.

26:42

So with looking back and that you look back at those

26:45

three years ago, man, we

26:48

that was a golden opportunity. It was a golden

26:50

opportunity. And I remember saying,

26:54

you have to go back and find it. But

26:56

I remember saying when when

26:58

Bill left and then when Curtis left and went

27:00

to the Jets, and we had a whole bunch of draft picks, like

27:03

these drafts are going to determine whether or not we

27:06

continue to climb or um

27:09

or whether we'd you know, become an also ran

27:12

um And a lot of those draft picks didn't

27:14

work out. Poor Robert Edwards, you know, he was he was on his

27:16

way to being a special player before he got hurt of the Pro Bowl

27:18

and um, you know, and so

27:20

that you know that that was really ultimately,

27:23

I think what prevented us from

27:25

keeping going was, um was how we did

27:27

in the draft those those ensuing years.

27:30

I know Robert talks about what

27:33

he made the decision, which couldn't have been easy for him

27:35

to get rid of Pete and he wanted

27:37

Bill, and he talked to Lawyer, he talked to

27:39

Ty because of those guys relationship with

27:41

him back in ninety six, did you did

27:44

you get a chance to weigh in, and did

27:46

you think so you're here with this again?

27:48

My words, that's authoritarian guy

27:50

in Parcels maybe a little bit more

27:53

player friendly guy in Pete. Now you're going

27:55

to go back to this other kind of style. Were you on board

27:57

with that? I was, you know, and you

28:00

know, and I love Pete then, love Pete to this

28:02

day. Um, but it hadn't worked out and

28:04

looked like things we're going to change. And I remember,

28:07

you know, Robert asking me, you know, and

28:09

I didn't. I obviously was on the other side of

28:11

the ball, so I wasn't around Belichick in ninety

28:13

six. Um, but

28:15

I knew I didn't want to compete against him anymore, you

28:18

know, So if nothing else, we were

28:20

getting him out of the division and then bringing him

28:22

over to UH to our side. You

28:24

know. It seemed like it seemed like a good move. How

28:27

did you feel? So? Was it you helped me on the date?

28:29

Here? It's a summer two thousand. When did you sign

28:31

your next deal? Was it the summer at Bryant

28:34

at the summer time? Was it was? It was? No,

28:36

it was I actually went out there in the in the

28:39

in the middle of the winter. I remember because I went on landed

28:41

and we had a big snowstorm. Um, so

28:43

it's the middle of the winter and I flew out there to to sign

28:45

that deal. Um, you

28:47

know, prior to the to the OH one

28:50

season, right, right, Yes,

28:52

it was prior to the O one season, right? And

28:54

U how did that make you feel? And I think at

28:57

the time, high paid quarterback,

28:59

high paid player in the game. Those are mind

29:02

modeling, Yeah, isn't it? Yeah,

29:04

No, it was. It was. What it meant

29:06

to me was that, um, great, I'm gonna

29:08

be able to finish my career in one place. You know.

29:11

That's what it meant to me. And that's uh, and

29:13

that's what I anticipated, and I think that's what everybody

29:15

anticipated at that point, was that now now, now

29:17

I'm here for the duration. Was there a feeling of invincibility?

29:20

I don't know if that's the right word, but did

29:22

you feel like, well, I'm immune to anything here,

29:25

you know, like they've got a lot invested

29:27

in me, and so I'm good. I'm

29:29

good, I think so, you know, I mean I think that did

29:32

you did that would be unavoidable, right, You're

29:34

like, Okay, you know, I've been here for eight years,

29:36

and I'm the guy and we just

29:38

signed a ten year deal and uh, you

29:41

know, now we're set, let's go, and uh

29:43

this is gonna be a good run, you know, for the foreseeable

29:46

future. Um. So yeah, I certainly

29:48

felt that way. And because of that, do

29:50

you see the Damon's, the

29:53

Michael Bishops, the Tom

29:55

Brady's as anything

29:58

other than just a backup? No? And

30:00

those guys were, they were, they were, they were backups. I was the guy,

30:02

right right. And I don't mean that like that sounds

30:04

like I'm being derogatory. No, No, not at

30:06

all. No, this isn't necessarily competition.

30:09

These guys have a role to play. It's a very important role.

30:12

But I'm the quarterback for sure. Yeah there was, and

30:14

uh you know, and and I think

30:17

all of those guys and Tommy included, would say

30:19

that I was an open book. You know. I shared everything

30:21

with him, right. You know. I remember hearing, you

30:24

know, Brett at one point, Brett Farve saying,

30:26

at one point when Aaron Rodgers is there, it's like, no, I'm not

30:28

here to coach this guy. I'm not here to I'm not here to groom

30:30

my replacement. And so I don't know that

30:32

he helped Aaron a lot, you know, but I shared

30:35

information openly and freely because that there

30:37

was I did not feel any any

30:39

threat from from those guys. This

30:43

one might be a question better for Tom instead

30:45

of you, but I know you and Tom have a really good relationship.

30:48

And if you put yourself in his shoes for a

30:50

second, which is really hard to do, but

30:52

if you were to put yourself in his shoes, do you think

30:55

that he would say, you know what,

30:58

um, the guy who got us in a

31:00

winning streak should start, and

31:03

necessarily the incumbent shouldn't

31:05

start. Do you think he would look at it the way that

31:08

you looked at it that way? If you know,

31:10

and we've

31:13

never actually had that direct conversation,

31:15

we we never have. I

31:17

know that I know that Tom

31:19

had you know, at

31:21

that time, I think you'd have to call it an irrational

31:24

belief in his building question to uh

31:27

to take it on um Now, in retrospect,

31:30

obviously it wasn't irrational, but um,

31:33

you know, but I think that you

31:35

know he viewed it as this is

31:37

his opportunity and he's going

31:39

to try not to sit back down, you know, which is the

31:42

way that you should approach it. I've talked to other

31:44

quarterbacks over time that have Obviously

31:48

nobody's had Tom's level of success, but other

31:50

guys where you're like, Okay, yeah, I'm here to be the

31:52

backup, and so I'm

31:54

gonna go play for a little bit and then I'm obviously

31:56

gonna go sit back down. I don't think he ever really viewed it

31:58

that way. I think he viewed it like, Okay, well, I'm

32:01

I'm gonna go I'm gonna go take this job

32:03

and run with it again.

32:06

Time's a great healer and everything. At

32:08

the point in time when this is going on, I

32:10

can't imagine what you were going through. But

32:12

with the benefit of time, and as you

32:14

already mentioned, what he's done, does

32:17

that take any of the sting out of it

32:19

at all? I mean, the guys freaking still playing

32:21

if he's forty five years old, Well,

32:23

first of all, he needs to find a hobby that's pretty and

32:25

he's got to find something else he wants to do. Maybe

32:27

he could be an investor. Yeah, there you go, right,

32:30

right, or at least

32:32

start. I was kind of hoping that when he quote

32:35

unquote retired, that maybe is gonna start drinking wine

32:37

again, right, But I guess

32:39

now he's gonna go back and play, so I don't have to wait a while before

32:41

he starts buying wine. Maybe he just het to buy someone um,

32:45

But no, you know, I think you

32:48

know, the if you're going to be replaced

32:50

by a guy and not get your job back, and

32:52

then he goes on to become one of the greatest

32:54

of all time, you know,

32:57

that makes it feel a little more palatable.

33:00

You know. I still think it was a wrong decision, but anybody

33:03

as well. You should because you're a player, right of

33:05

course. Man, Yeah, you always want to be the guy,

33:08

right And I think I think

33:10

people have seen little clips here or there. You've

33:12

come back on several occasions, you know, honorary

33:15

captain for AC Championship games, been

33:17

there for Super Bowls, and people

33:19

see you the two. Not many people, but you get

33:21

a chance to react with Tom. There's a bond

33:23

there that's never going to be broken. I mean, I think people

33:26

that might not know anything, go, uh, you know, Drew's

33:28

never going to talk to him again. Why would he do that. He took

33:30

his job. That's not the case with you guys,

33:32

right, No, man, we we had we had a great

33:34

relationship through the whole thing, and I continued

33:37

to help him, you know, after that decision

33:39

was made, I continued to help him out. And um

33:43

and I, you know, even before

33:45

he took the field, he was a guy that had a lot of respect

33:47

for because the way that he approached things, the way that he worked

33:49

and all of those things that are legendary now. Um,

33:52

So he and I never we never had a problem.

33:54

Um. You know, it's it's it's

33:57

it's hard to be warm and fuzzy when

33:59

he's got your job and you don't. But but we

34:01

were able to put that aside and I was able to

34:04

help him through the you know, through

34:06

the whole thing. There's a

34:08

very famous clip that I think it

34:10

was Fox that carried that captured it because

34:12

they had the game. But it's after the game, the

34:14

Super Bowl thirty six against the Rams, and

34:17

he's pounding your chest like

34:19

we did it, we did it, And it was basically

34:21

saying like we got this one for you, and

34:24

you look kind of amused, like this is this young

34:26

kid? Is you know? Was that bittersweet

34:28

for you? Drew it? It was? It was the very definition

34:31

of bittersweet. You know, this is my team,

34:33

right, you know, and this is the goal. You want

34:35

to win a championship. Um, But

34:38

I wasn't the guy on the field, so it was the

34:40

very definition of bittersweet. I was so

34:43

ecstatic for the team, but

34:45

personally that hurt. Man. It

34:47

hurt to not be the guy when

34:49

we were doing that. But there's

34:51

there's one one kind of interesting

34:54

anecdote about about our relationship that I don't

34:56

ever think of ever put out there. We bumped

34:58

into each other in Montana.

35:02

And by the way, Tom's still not a very good skire apparently

35:05

now he skis really fast, but kind of out of control.

35:07

But but we were there and said

35:09

high to him up on the hill and I was skiing with the kids, and we took

35:12

off, and end

35:14

of the day I had a phone

35:16

call and so i'd up there and I was on this phone call while

35:18

the mountain close while I was while I was up there, and

35:21

all of a sudden, there's nobody on the hill. So I just go ripping

35:23

down and I get to the bottom and I see Tom

35:26

m kind of getting his skis off,

35:28

and he was with a female, so I just assumed

35:30

that was Gazelle. So I came ripping

35:33

down and I came in to spring, right,

35:35

I was gonna just cover him in snow. Well,

35:37

of course I miss and I just

35:39

covered Jizella snow and I never and

35:41

I've never met her at this point, right, And

35:44

and so Tom looks at me, you know, like, oh,

35:46

it's go time, right, you know, I don't care here, I'm gonna

35:48

beat the shit out of you. And so I said, hey, hey,

35:50

it's Drew. And so I just I walk over it, and I

35:52

give Jazella hug and she gives me a big hug back,

35:55

right, And so then we're walking in and she

35:57

goes, she goes, she

36:00

goes. Understand that I don't

36:02

normally give people hugs when I meet him for

36:04

the first time. She goes. But you don't understand how

36:06

you're talked about in our house, which was

36:09

a really cool moment because you know, there was obviously

36:11

there's a ton of mutual respect there and uh

36:14

um, you know it was a cool thing. You mentioned

36:17

it's the ultimate and bitter suite. What

36:19

did it take for you to get over that? Was it to

36:21

go and have success someplace else? Was

36:24

the you know, the thirty one to nothing in

36:26

oh three? I mean, those things are fleeting because

36:28

you're onto the next game or anything like that. How do

36:30

you process that truly? Yeah? I mean you

36:33

know, um, what was it living well

36:35

as the best revenge? You know, like and uh

36:38

um, yeah, I wanted to go on and uh, you

36:40

know, prove that I could have success elsewhere. Um.

36:44

You know, we only had the one, the

36:46

one great success against against

36:48

the Pats, but that one was a lot of fun. It was right after they had

36:50

traded Lawyer to UH

36:52

or let Lawyer come over to UH to Buffalo.

36:55

Um and uh yeah, that's

36:57

that's That's what I wanted then, was to go, you

37:00

know, prove that I can do it again. Obviously,

37:03

the region loves Tom for obvious

37:05

reasons. As you said, one of the greatest quarterbacks

37:07

of all time. How can they not love him? Yeah?

37:10

Do you realize how much the region loves you? Did

37:13

it take maybe that

37:15

Hall of Fame induction weekend with everything

37:18

that had gone on, everything like that we talked

37:20

earlier about, you know, you're part of the Holy Trinity.

37:22

Man, it's you, it's parcels,

37:26

it's craft, that's what built this. Do

37:28

you realize that there's legions

37:30

of Patriot fans that love you

37:32

for that? You know, I do It's

37:36

really fun for me now when I go back because

37:38

the people

37:40

that were fans then or are older now, and

37:43

I feel like they have this really

37:45

strong, mum

37:48

feeling that we're buddies. And I feel

37:50

that way too, you know. So I'll walk down the street and instead

37:53

of you know, hey, we gotta get a self here, sign this autograph,

37:55

like, hey, Drew, how you doing? Man? Good? Good?

37:58

How was the one business good? You know? And it's

38:00

so you know, high five and keep moving.

38:02

Um. But the the Hall

38:05

of Fame induction was really really cool, and it

38:07

was it was honestly, it was really great closure

38:10

for my family, you know, because

38:12

I think I'd kind of processed it was

38:14

was was through it. And but for

38:16

my family, you know, when something happens to somebody

38:18

that you love, it's more painful than when it happens to you.

38:20

And we've all experienced that in our lives. And for

38:23

my family to feel like I wasn't treated, you

38:26

know, properly, um,

38:29

to be out there and to stand there and to hear that ovation

38:31

from that stadium

38:33

that day, um, it was a great

38:36

closure for for mom and dad,

38:38

my brother, for my wife. UM,

38:40

you know, I was a great closure for them as well. I know

38:42

Tippett scared the kid off who was asking

38:44

you for an autograph, But you're a twenty something year old

38:46

kid from a completely different part of the

38:49

area. You know, there's rabid Northeast Corridor

38:51

Boston fans who can be really obnoxious.

38:53

And it's a twenty four, twenty six year

38:55

old. Maybe they maybe drew BLEDSOE has got

38:57

to be standoffish about it. Yeah, the

39:00

circle of life, You mature,

39:02

different things happen in your life and

39:05

you realize now how much they do love you, and

39:07

you love them back. Now now it's

39:09

it's easier for you to understand

39:12

what that passion was like. Is that fair? That's

39:14

yeah, that's very fair. That's very fair. And it um

39:17

um, you know, look at

39:19

you know, the New England fans

39:21

can be a fickle bunch, you know, and we all we

39:23

all know that. Um.

39:26

But ultimately, I think you

39:29

know a few things. Number one, I think I always

39:31

tried to conduct myself in the

39:33

right way. Um. Now, I I

39:35

did have to, you know, kind

39:37

of bring that circle in pretty tight while I was playing.

39:40

You know, we didn't know, we m thankfully

39:42

it was before social media and before everybody had a video

39:44

camera in their pocket. Um.

39:46

But you know now, um,

39:48

you know, going back, I don't really feel like I have

39:50

to be that way, and I can. I can be

39:53

out there with people and I think they're there's

39:55

uh, you know, mutual

39:57

respect and admiration with the

40:00

hands and with me and with my family. And

40:02

I try not to be on social media. But here's

40:04

just a little and I never try to read the comments,

40:07

but that picture that we took a

40:09

month ago with you and Robert at

40:11

your winery at Double Back, and that

40:14

was pushed out and I looked at some of the comments Drew,

40:16

and I don't know if you look, if you're a comment person, I'm

40:18

telling you it was one hundred percent of

40:20

the fans. They were saying the going love Drew,

40:23

good for Drew, great to see Drew.

40:25

And I just wonder that that gets to you somehow,

40:28

not when I when I say gets you that you can

40:30

get that message? Yeah, for sure gets back to

40:32

you. For sure. I don't. I you

40:34

know, I've been pretty good with the on the social

40:36

media front of I try to eliminate

40:39

the negativity to the to the extent

40:41

that I can. Um, but

40:43

yeah, it's almost entirely positive and uh

40:46

it's uh yeah,

40:48

and it's good. It's it's it's good, you know, and

40:50

it's uh. It was an important informative

40:52

time and uh in my

40:55

life. And it was a hell of a ride.

40:57

Uh. And now to to

41:00

have that mutual appreciation that goes

41:02

both ways, UM, it's a very

41:04

very cool thing. Who's the best teammate

41:08

that you ever played with? Oh? Man, who's the

41:10

best team I've ever played with? And I played

41:12

with so many great ones. That's a really

41:14

hard question. Um, let's

41:18

see. Um, Well,

41:21

Buffalo Larry Centers was one of the guys

41:23

that jumps out. Man, a guy was a character.

41:25

He's really smart and would do everything.

41:27

You know, he he should be

41:30

there's certain you know, there's a lot of guys that should be in the Hall of

41:32

Fame. Larry Centers the all time leading receiver

41:34

for running back in the history of the league.

41:37

And he's not in. He should be in. But he was also a

41:39

great blocker, great um you

41:42

know in uh in New England.

41:44

I mean, for me early on Coates was the guy

41:46

that saved me personally because he'd

41:48

um, you know, just on the on the field.

41:51

Um. Teddy Bruski lawyer

41:55

tie um. And

41:58

then obviously I'd go right down the I'm

42:00

with all the guys that blocked for me, that were that were superheroes.

42:03

I'm still still close with Bruce

42:05

Armstrong. We keep in touch on a pretty regular basis.

42:08

Um, it's amazing with Bruce though, who

42:10

was such a certified badass. And

42:14

I get random text messages from Bruce like,

42:16

Hey, just want to reach out to you. I love your brother, right,

42:18

Like, wait, who's got Bruce's phone? Right? You know

42:21

who's messing with me? Um? But

42:23

man, so many great guys, and it was, you

42:26

know, through through the whole thing. Man, there's so many great

42:28

teammates. If I charged I started to try and list

42:30

all the great ones, Um, I

42:33

probably wouldn't do it because I would

42:35

end up leaving somebody out and be like, oh, shoot,

42:37

that's right. And we talked about Chief earlier, were talking about David

42:39

Patton. What a great teammate that

42:41

guy was, you know, up and down. So, yeah,

42:44

who's the toughest opponent you

42:47

played against? Was there one or two people

42:49

that you can think of your game

42:51

plan in that week and ago? This was going to be a grind

42:53

man, be really hard, you

42:57

know, Warren Sapp was a guy that was that was

42:59

a pain in our ass. And I had to play

43:01

against him again when he was with the Raiders, when I was with

43:03

the Bills, m oh

43:05

no and no with the Bills,

43:07

and I think with the Cowboys Bruce

43:10

Smith obviously, but we had Bruce Armstrong over

43:12

there, so that was a battle that everybody focused on every week.

43:14

But but thankfully we had Army you know, blocking

43:17

him, so it was not as

43:19

big a deal as it would have been for other people. I

43:21

do remember Rookie year, there was one play that

43:23

they had with Bruce Smith on tape that they took out

43:25

of all the cut ups because they didn't want guys to see it because

43:28

Bruce just Bruce Smith just ruined

43:31

that. He lined up over the center and just ruined him. And it

43:33

was yeah, so, um, those

43:36

are two pretty good examples. Yeah. Remember

43:39

Dion Sanders for all the noise and all

43:41

of that stuff, that guy, that guy was, he

43:44

was. He was that good. Also,

43:46

you know, thankfully didn't have to play against him that much. Right,

43:49

Okay, so let's go back. Why

43:51

was it important for you to

43:53

have Robert come out here and see what you've built?

43:56

You know, it was important for him to come, and I'd

43:58

been trying to get him to come out for years and years

44:02

because a lot of what we do and a lot of

44:04

what we talk about as a business

44:07

ties back to what he's done

44:09

in building the Patriots into what they are

44:11

and what they've become. And probably the

44:13

most important piece of that is that, you know, I asked

44:16

him at one point, you know what separates you

44:18

from everybody else? He goes, There's there's not one thing,

44:20

it's everything. We compete at everything, and

44:22

that's a mantra in our business, like we um,

44:26

there's there's no detail

44:28

too small to not try to be the best at

44:31

UM. And uh so,

44:33

yeah, I talk about it. I talk about him a lot with our team,

44:35

and it was important for me to have

44:37

him come see that a lot of what we've done is in

44:40

some ways a tribute to him and what he's built for

44:43

you to do that. And you know, I'm

44:45

sure you're speaking to your team about

44:47

him in almost like mythical ways and does

44:49

this guy even exist? You know? And everything? What

44:52

did they get out of seeing him and seeing

44:54

the tool of you? And you know I've been telling you guys,

44:56

is that this is my guy. You know, what did

44:58

they take out of that when they saw him actually

45:00

in the flesh? Yeah, you know, I think that I think

45:03

that they realized that, you know, yeah,

45:05

this guy's a real person and also

45:07

a really good person, right, you know. And I

45:09

think that, um, you

45:11

know, people can tend to see these guys

45:13

that have achieved achieved these unimaginable

45:18

levels of financial success, and

45:20

they're like, oh, this this guy must be just an

45:22

an asshole capitalist pig,

45:25

you know. And to see that he has

45:27

true heart and soul about him. I think that was really

45:29

meaningful for our team. Um.

45:32

And it's also kind of fun honestly, Um,

45:35

so much of our team is so young, Um

45:38

that to have him show up and and and

45:41

you know, talk about me the way that he did, like

45:43

some of these people realize, oh, okay, yeah,

45:45

you know our boss you know, actually, you

45:47

know, did some shit back in the day. It's

45:50

I think, I don't know, I'm not a great math person. It's

45:52

nearly thirty years after you were drafted, and

45:54

you can pick up the phone. I know he

45:56

wasn't there right at that time, but pretty

45:59

soon after, and you can still

46:01

have a relationship with your boss.

46:03

I mean, it was your boss, wasn't your coach? Was

46:05

your boss? He afforded

46:07

you with that contract, you know, a lifestyle

46:10

that you probably never could dream out. And the

46:12

fact that today that you can pick up the phone and call him.

46:15

What does that say about the relationship and the two

46:17

of you have tough Well, it

46:19

transcends, Um,

46:21

you know, a working relationship,

46:24

you know boss owner, you know player,

46:26

it's a true friendship and a um

46:29

and a UM. You know he's

46:31

been a great mentor, even when he's not trying to be a lot

46:33

of times I think he sets things and I

46:36

tell him all the times I hate you know when you talk, I actually

46:38

listen. Um, so be careful what you say.

46:41

Uh, but uh, um,

46:44

yeah, it's a it's a it's a unique relationship

46:47

that that went that that that changed

46:49

over time into a true friendship

46:51

and um, you know great mutual

46:54

respect. Um and

46:57

uh you know, I think you know it's

47:00

it's just a it's a it's a it's a neat thing for

47:02

me to have that real

47:05

true friendship with a guy like that.

47:08

Is it important to you? Was you talked about a little

47:10

bit earlier. You know, you're not going to do everything

47:12

that you learned. You're not going to take everything that somebody

47:14

says, but it's important you to take those key tenants

47:17

that you learned, maybe from him, and implement

47:19

that into the way you build and you

47:21

operate and run your business on a daily basis.

47:23

Absolutely, it's absolutely

47:25

important to me that. And there's a I

47:29

don't want to say pressure, but there's an accountability

47:32

UM that I feel. UM,

47:34

if I'm going to call him a friend

47:37

and mentor, there are certain ways that

47:39

we have to do things from an ethical standpoint

47:41

that UM, that have a little

47:44

bit more weight. UM.

47:46

You know. One of the things I talked about with our team that's

47:48

that's true with him is that he's had, you

47:51

know, people that have worked for him.

47:53

I think all said he's worked for him for forty one years.

47:55

UM, and you know, Stacy's been

47:57

there since ninety three. I don't know,

48:00

did you start oh four?

48:02

Yeah, fur you got there

48:04

one new good You're just a

48:06

kid. But UM, and

48:08

I talk about that with our team is like we're one of the

48:10

things that we are really trying to do is to build

48:12

a business that people don't want to leave, UM

48:15

and UM, and we tried to

48:17

because of that, we try to treat our people, um,

48:20

in a way that they know they're valued, so that they

48:22

don't always have their eyes on the

48:25

greener pastures on the other side of the fence. Um

48:28

and that and that's another thing that that that's important

48:30

to me. You know, I don't I don't want to. I

48:32

don't want to be a stepping stone business.

48:34

I want to be a business that people want to work for forever.

48:37

He's a pretty open book. He's

48:40

on the society pages. He's with music

48:44

people, actors, actresses, rappers,

48:46

Yeah what and and

48:48

Patriot fans I think have at least a pretty good

48:50

glimpse of who he is. What would they be surprised

48:53

to know that you know about him that

48:55

maybe the general public doesn't know Drew Well.

48:58

First of all, I don't know if people get a sense for how funny he

49:00

is. I mean, he's a funny dude, um

49:03

and uh, you know, and

49:05

and can be pretty off color, you know, in a in a

49:07

really funny way sometimes, and I'm certain that

49:10

they don't get to see that side of him. Um.

49:13

But you know, he's very

49:15

very genuine. You know, he's very

49:17

genuine and very loving. Um and

49:20

uh, you know, it's I know

49:23

that I'm certain that he gets a lot of grief

49:25

for having you know, the young

49:28

girlfriend for the second time now fiance,

49:31

I think, Um, but

49:33

that's a that's a genuine love between

49:35

the two of them. And uh uh,

49:38

you know, from the outside of thin people probably look at it

49:40

like, well, no, his his wife

49:42

passed away, so now he's just gonna go you know,

49:44

Chasey's young girls around. That's and that's not the way it went.

49:46

That's not the way I went down. He and he and Myra. We

49:49

got to witness and sit in the kitchen with them and

49:51

see the relationship that they had. And that was

49:53

a genuine love affair for what fifty four

49:55

year or something like that. Um,

49:58

he's a very genuine and loving person. Life

50:02

with Drew Bleuss was pretty good. Family

50:05

in your hometown, creating

50:08

jobs, a business. You

50:10

said, you're a wine personnel who used

50:12

to play football. You want a happy point

50:15

in the time of your life. I'm I'm at

50:17

a good place and and um,

50:20

and then you know, and I recognize and I think I try

50:22

to say frequently, you know, I've lived in an

50:24

extremely blessed life. Um.

50:28

And and that has very

50:30

very little to do with financial success.

50:33

You know, I grew up in a loving home

50:35

with two parents, got a brother that's still my best

50:37

buddy, you know, married my

50:39

college sweetheart, four happy, healthy

50:41

kids. Um,

50:43

you know, and uh, and I've

50:46

never had a real job after

50:48

high school. I mean, I I work construction,

50:50

and you know, when I was in high school and

50:53

you know, I had to go work in the wheat fields and so on. But

50:55

but you know, since since high school,

50:57

I really never had a real job. I got to play football

51:00

and then I got to start and own a winery. I mean, it's

51:02

a it's a blessed, blessed

51:04

existence, and I recognize that. And you

51:07

know, I hope that I'm playing a very good hand

51:09

well, is what I'm trying to do. You know,

51:11

people get all kinds of I've got a great

51:13

friend in Montana whose license plate says

51:16

seven two one wo n

51:18

which seven two is the worst hand you can

51:20

ever get in um

51:23

in poker, And he's taken

51:25

the worst hand and one with it right.

51:28

And for me, you know, I mean,

51:30

I was dealt aces and I'm

51:32

trying to play him really well and trying to

51:35

make a good impact on the world and do some

51:37

good things. Tremendous perspective. Thank you

51:39

very much for your time. His name is true Bledsoe,

51:41

the OG number eleven drew great

51:44

to catch up with you and thank you for a right time. Thanks

51:46

for coming to see me, Man appreciate it. Thank

51:49

you for downloading this podcast. Subscribe

51:52

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51:54

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