Jalen Mills, the newest member of the New England Patriots’ defensive backfield, says he’s been following Patriots head coach Bill Belichick’s career since before he was even seriously invested in football.
But he had never met Belichick until his first visit to Gillette Stadium.
“I’m about to walk out of the cafeteria and I hear, ‘Hey Jalen,'” Mills recounts. “So I turn around and it’s Coach [Belichick].”
For a moment or two of conversation, Mills says the reality of who he was talking to finally set in.
“I literally turned my back to him and I screamed out loud, ‘This is Coach Belichick!