Patriots coach Bill Belichick loves lacrosse, and he’s giving a college lacrosse player a chance to earn a roster spot in New England.
Among the players trying out at the Patriots’ rookie minicamp is Dox Aitken, who played lacrosse, not football, in college at Virginia.
According to Doug Kyed of AtoZSports.com, Aitken plays for the Atlas Lacrosse Club in the Premier Lacrosse League, which was founded by Paul Rabil, a friend of Belichick’s.
Aitken did play football in high school, playing wide receiver, safety and punter, so he’s not totally inexperienced. But at Virginia, he was an All-American lacrosse player.
The Patriots have previously had on their roster Chris Hogan, who played only lacrosse, not football, at Penn State. But Hogan then transferred to Monmouth and played football, so he was more experienced than Aitken. Last year Jared Bernhardt, who won the Tewaaraton Award as the country’s best lacrosse player at Maryland, made the Falcons’ roster. But Bernhardt had also transferred to a small school, Ferris State, to play football before making it to the NFL.
With his lack of experience, Aitken is a long shot to even get a spot on the 90-player offseason roster, let alone get on the field in the regular season. But if there’s a coach who would give him a real chance, it’s Belichick.