Now that he has New England in the rearview mirror, Broncos receiver Wes Welker can be honest: He wasn’t crazy about playing for Bill Belichick.
Welker told Sports Illustrated that toward the end of his six-year stay in New England, Belichick got on his case, admonished him in front of his teammates, and generally made things difficult.
“It was just kind of hard,” Welker said, “one of those deals where you have to endure him, put up with him. . . . But he does it to everybody, it’s the way he is.”
It’s somewhat surprising that Welker would speak negatively about Belichick to the media, but it’s not surprising that Welker feels that way. Welker made no secret of the fact that he didn’t think the Patriots valued him enough, and Welker and Belichick clashed at times, most notably when Belichick benched Welker for the start of a playoff game against the Jets because Welker ridiculed Rex Ryan’s foot fetish, ignoring Belichick’s instruction not to say anything that could serve as bulletin board material.
In fact, Welker said he still thinks about Belichick’s obsession with staying tight-lipped when talking to reporters, even though he doesn’t play for Belichick anymore.
“When I’m answering questions from the Denver media, I’m not worried about what the Broncos’ people are going to think,” Welker said. “I’m worried about what Belichick will think.”
Welker doesn’t have to worry about Belichick anymore. Except when he worries about how Belichick will game plan to stop him when the Broncos and Patriots meet on November 24.