Former New England Patriots FS Brandon Meriweather was a two-time Pro Bowler and is now an active member of the New England radio circuit. He has been one of the more interesting interviews as of late, with some pretty interesting stories.
This story doesn’t come from Meriweather, but it is about him, courtesy of resident prankster and former Patriots LT Matt Light. Light was listening to Meriweather on Toucher & Rich talking about getting drunk at the Pro Bowl and decided to call into the radio station.
Light explains that he took advantage of Meriweather’s first trip to the Pro Bowl by setting the free safety up in front of Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. Belichick was coaching the 2009 AFC Pro Bowl team, so Light simply told Meriweather that the head coach was going to take care of his bar tab.
“[Meriweather was at] a table full of veterans,” Light explained via CSNNE. “All the guys are cutting up, having a good time. This is right around the pool. [Meriweather]’s kind of the young guy, kind of the odd man out, and he’s not saying much. He’s just laughing, joining in the festivities, and I walked over to him and -- I [had seen] him order a drink from the waitress -- I said, ‘Hey man, you do know that you can put all this on Bill’s room, right?’ Now you’ve got to remember, Belichick and the entire staff were coaching the AFC.
“Now I go up there saying that just busting his chops. I didn’t really know what was going to happen, but I figured I’d plant that seed. He looks at me and he says, ‘Are you serious?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, man. You don’t ever pay for your drinks when your coach is here coaching.’ I’m like, ‘Come on. Come on, rook.’ So I walk away; I’m not thinking anything of it.
“Fast forward like four or five hours, I literally witnessed him walk up to Bill with his check, like the little card that has your bill in it, and hand it to coach Belichick and say, ‘Hey, thank you coach. I appreciate you,’ in a way only that he could do it. Like you could imagine what that conversation looked like.
“And I’ll never forget -- Bill’s looking at him like, ‘What are you talking about?’ But Linda [Holliday, Belichick’s partner]’s like, ‘Go ahead, take care of the tab. Help him out, right?’ It was the most uncomfortable awkward moment I’ve ever witnessed with coach.”
Light was always the prankster in the Patriots locker room, going so far as substituting Belichick’s computer mouse with a fake that would shock the head coach upon use, ultimately causing Belichick to accidentally delete a computer file. He also filled QB Tom Brady’s car with parking peanuts and took the tires off of QB Matt Cassel’s car.
Meriweather made it back to the Pro Bowl in 2010 and played a long 9-year career.