Retired running back Corey Dillon joined the Patriots in 2004 and immediately set the team’s single-season rushing recording while also helping New England to a second consecutive Super Bowl win.
But, as was recently revealed, the start of Dillon’s Patriots career had a much more humble feel to it. Instead of the setting being the NFL draft or a high-profile free agent tour at the team’s facility, it was a hotel room in Rocky Hill, Connecticut.
Former Patriots personnel executive Scott Pioli (now a football analyst for NFL Network) recently marked the anniversary of the Patriots’ trade for Dillon by sharing backstory on some research that he did with Bill Belichick prior to the deal with the Bengals.