Mike Vrabel, now in his first season as Patriots‘ head coach, was once himself a rookie in the NFL.
And back in 1997, when Vrabel was an incoming third-round pick by the Steelers trying to make a positive first impression, things didn’t always go the way he wanted it to. The former Ohio State standout got into a fight on the first day of padded practice with Pittsburgh.
It was a fact that he was reminded of on Monday prior to New England’s own first training camp practice with pads. When asked by MassLive’s Karen Guregian at his pre-practice press conference if it was safe to assume he doesn’t want rookies doing that in 2025, Vrabel expanded on the answer.