Remember Wally Pipp?
Bill Belichick sure does. And in 2009, he wanted to make sure that his then-player Wes Welker did, too.
During a Patriots-Eagles preseason game, the retired wide receiver had elected to sit out because his knee was bothering him. Julian Edelman, a rookie at the time, took his place as punt returner.
“In a preseason game against Philly, I wasn’t playing,” Welker recalls in his edition of NFL Network’s A Football Life. “Julian returns a punt and, you know, takes it to the house.”
Following the touchdown, Belichick immediately spoke into his headset to ask the team’s research director Ernie Adams, “What’s that guy’s name who played before Lou Gehrig?