When the call finally came, Matt Cassel wasn’t ready for it. Nowhere near ready.
In fact, even as Cassel begins his 14th NFL season competing for the Lions’ backup quarterback job, he still sounds like he thought it was a joke.
“Hey, this is coach Belichick,” said the voice on the other end of Cassel’s cell phone.
“I said, ‘Yeah, right. You’re messing with me,’ ” Cassel said. “He goes, ‘No, this is coach Belichick. We’re going to take you next.’ ”
It was the second and final day of the 2005 NFL draft. And Bill Belichick, who had just led the New England Patriots to a 14-2 season and a Super Bowl championship, was calling.