Bill Belichick gets special shout out in David Andrews' retirement speech
FOXBOROUGH — As David Andrews fought back tears repeatedly over the course of an 11-minute retirement speech, there were plenty of people the long-time Patriots center wanted to thank.
One was his former coach, Bill Belichick, who signed Andrews as an undrafted free agent in 2015 and opened the door to an NFL career. Under Belichick's tutelage, Andrews rose from roster long-shot to two-time Super Bowl champion and was an eight-time team captain.
Advertisement
'Coach Belichick, thank you for giving me the opportunity I so desperately wanted in this league,' Andrews said. 'I learned more about this game from you than anyone has ever taught me. And to all my coaches here in New England during my 10-year career, thank you for all the time and sacrifices you all made to make sure we were ready to go each and every Sunday.
'You all always demanded our best and challenged us each and every week. The details were important, and they mattered. That is something I'll carry with me for the rest of my life.'
Andrews also thanked owner Robert Kraft and his family, the people behind the scenes at Gillette Stadium, all of his Patriots teammates, and was particularly emotional when addressing his family, who watched from the front row. Andrews raved about the sacrifices his wife, Mackenzie, made for him, and spoke directly to his two young boys, Ford and Worth.
As he wrapped up his retirement speech after 10 years in the New England organization, the center concluded his speech by addressing the game of football itself.
Advertisement
'This game has given me so much over the last 26 years,' Andrews said. 'I've met some amazing people, been places I'd never imagined, and done things I'd never dreamed of. You've taught me so much about myself and life, while letting me get to play a child's game and call it a job. You've been so good to me and I think I've been pretty good to you.
'If there's any parents on the fence about letting your kids play the game, I promise you, you won't regret it. There's no better teacher of the game of life than the game of football. I wouldn't change one thing about my 26 years playing this game, but it's time to say goodbye. As (the Bible) says in 2 Timothy 4:7, 'I fought the good fight, I finished the race, and I have kept the faith.' Thank you all.'
More Patriots Content
Read the original article on MassLive.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Bill Belichick speaks to media on UNC's improvements during spring practices
Bill Belichick speaks to media on UNC's improvements during spring practices Bill Belichick likes his players' improvement over UNC's spring football practices. The highly-anticipated, 2025 college football season will begin in just two months, with the North Carolina Tar Heels expected to continue attracting plenty of attention. Hoping to escape a decade-long slump of mediocrity, UNC hired 8-time Super Bowl Champion Bill Belichick to be its next head football coach. Despite his endless success at the professional level, Belichick is a first-time college coach, so the questioning is understandable. Belichick quickly proved he can thrive outside of the NFL, landing North Carolina numerous commitments in the transfer portal. If you have trouble identifying any of the Tar Heels' 2025 starters, that's because they likely played college ball elsewhere last season. With essentially a brand-new team, it's natural to expect growing pains. According to Belichick, though, his players showed improvement across the board during spring practices. "(There was) better communication, better fundamentals, better understanding of what we're trying to do," Belichick said Tuesday at the Kenan Football Center. "Certainly the conditioning was much better. We practiced at a very high level, similar to what we have done in the past with Moses Cabrera, strength coach, and our offensive and defensive systems and so forth. The players were able to respond to that and maintain not only good health, but a high quality performance. So we didn't run out of gas. We were able to sustain the workload of those practices from our offseason training that started back in January." "We're not going to stop," Belichick continued. "We don't think we're there yet. We're definitely not there. We know we've got a long way to go, but I think these guys have a really good future in front of them, individually and collectively, and it's exciting to see the progress they've made." The first college football game of 2025 will be a 12 p.m. kickoff on Saturday, August 23 between Kansas State and Iowa State, when both programs play in Dublin, Ireland's Aer Lingus Classic. The Tar Heels will play their first game Monday, September 1 at 8 p.m. against TCU, making Belichick's first college game a primetime matchup under the Kenan Stadium lights. Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.
USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
We hit 87 in our Raiders countdown to kickoff. Who wore it best and who's wearing it now
We hit 87 in our Raiders countdown to kickoff. Who wore it best and who's wearing it now We've reached 87 days until the Raiders season opener at Foxboro against the Patriots, With our countdown at 87 days we take a look at who currently dons the number in Silver & Black and who has brought it the most distinction. No. 87 Who's wearing it now: TE Michael Mayer The Raiders traded up in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft to select Mayer at 35 overall. After a slow start, the Raiders were a bad team and found themselves in position to draft Brock Bowers, so they did. Instantly Mayer went from the guy they wanted bad enough to trade up to the top of the second round, to playing second fiddle to Bowers. Which, to be honest, if you are going to take a backseat to anyone, he's the guy who you can't really feel too bad about. Mayer enters his third season with 460 yards and two touchdowns on 48 catches. After missing six games last season to 'personal reasons' he returned and has settled into his role as the Raiders' number two tight end. He and Bowers have the potential to make for one of the better one-two punches at tight end in the league. Who wore it best: TE Dave Casper A Hall of Famer. One of the greatest tight ends in NFL history. The man of whom the legendary 'Ghost to the Post' play is named after. He went to five straight Pro Bowls from 1976-1980 with four straight All Pro nods in there as well. And the Raiders won two Super Bowls during that time. In 1977 -- a year the Raiders did not win the Super Bowl -- Casper had five touchdowns in two playoff games.
Associated Press
2 hours ago
- Associated Press
US Open underway with high expectations for Scheffler and a tough test for all
OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) — The first shot of the 125th U.S. Open on Thursday embodied so much of what this championship is about. Matt Vogt, an Indiana dentist who went through 54 holes of qualifying, sent his tee shot soaring into the rough at Oakmont. Vogt, who once caddied at Oakmont before moving on to root canals, managed to use the severe slope of the first fairway for his ball to tumble onto the green for a par. There are high expectations everywhere at the major known as the toughest test in golf — for Scottie Scheffler, the world No. 1; for Bryson DeChambeau, the defending champion; and for everyone to face an Oakmont course reputed to be the toughest in the land. 'Oakmont is relentless,' said John Bodenhamer, the chief championships officer at the USGA who sets up the course. 'There's no let up. It's a grind. That's the U.S. Open.' The USGA is particularly fond of Oakmont, a big reason why the U.S. Open returns to his course for a record 10th time. It has been on the minds of all 156 players — from Scheffler and Masters champion Rory McIlroy to the 15 amateurs, and for the 16 players, like Vogt, who had to make it through 18 holes of local qualifying and then 36 holes. Zac Blair had the first birdie of this championship, holing a putt from nearly 45 feet on the 10th hole after starting his round on the back nine. Alistair Docherty suffered the first of what figures to be plenty of crashes. From just short of the 10th green, it took him two hacks to get it out of the cabbage-like rough, the second chip rolling and rolling some 12 feet by the hole. That's what Oakmont does — thick, gnarly rough and some of the fastest putting surfaces around. The USGA pointed out on the eve of the championship that only 27 of the 1,385 players who have competed in a major championship at Oakmont finished under par. ___ AP golf:
