Matt Light tricked Brandon Meriweather into sticking Belichick with his bar tab

[Undertaker #59*]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...ot-once-stuck-bill-belichick-with-his-bar-tab

By Dan Hanzus
End Around Writer
Published: Dec. 21, 2016 at 04:33 p.m. Updated: Dec. 21, 2016 at 06:30 p.m.

Would you have the guts to walk up to Bill Belichick and stick him with your bar tab?

Surely not. But could you do it while in a drunken state of naivety? This feels more plausible.

That's exactly what happened to former Patriots safety Brandon Meriweather after teammate Matt Light jokingly told the first-time Pro Bowl player that the coach of the Pro Bowl always takes the tab for his players.

This was after the 2009 season and Belichick and the rest of the Patriots staff were coaching the AFC squad. Light approached Meriweather -- "well served" that night as the retired tackle remembers -- at the hotel pool.

"[Meriweather]'s kind of the young guy, kind of the odd man out, and he's not saying much," Light told The Toucher and Rich Show on WBZ-FM (via CSNNE.com). "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 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."

Oh, this is not going in a good direction at all ...

"Fast forward like four or five hours," Light said. "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's (Belichick's longtime partner Linda Holliday) 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."
I'd pay in upwards of $300 U.S. dollar to see hotel lobby security footage of this encounter.

 

[Roberto71]

So that's why Merriweather was cut!!

 

[Big/Sky/Fly]

Brownie points made that night...

 

[patswin]

I read another account of this somewhere last night where Light commented it was "the greatest moment of his life". ROFL

 

[Hawg73]

That was a hilarious anecdote that I didn't know about prior to reading this and you can easily connect the dots to figure that Meriweather was the kind of space shot that his team mates enjoyed having fun with. At his expense, of course.

The sad thing is that by today's logic this was a vicious act that was really hazing and probably racist to boot.

Which I don't give a flying fvck about. Brandon Meriweather was simply too good of a target to pass up. Anybody that ever heard him could figure that out. The guy was from another planet.

This is what being a part of a team is really like and I hope that never changes. Practical jokes are the stuff of life.

:shrug:

 

[HSanders]

anyone who has worked in a group of dudes gets that this is how it is. i always laugh at pantywaist journalists who wring their hands about "omgNEANDERTHALS!!11!!"

 

[PatriotInIndy]

Love a good practical joke like this. I wish there was a photo of Bill's face when Meriweather was handing the bill over.

 

[mikiemo83]

anyone who has worked in a group of dudes gets that this is how it is. i always laugh at pantywaist journalists who wring their hands about "omgNEANDERTHALS!!11!!"

yup, it is a rite of passage - you take the joke then you can later give them