The week of the draft, intel began coming in fast and furious. Cole was likely going to be long gone by the third round, and his camp had gleaned that he’d probably be picked somewhere between No. 30-40; very late first round or early second.
At around 11 p.m., Cole’s phone lit up with an unknown number.
The voice on the other end of the line said it was the Patriots — they’d traded down to pick No. 29 — but Cole has some friends (and a brother) who are pranksters, so he was naturally a little leery. He slid next to his father on the couch and hit the button for speaker phone.
Here’s how that phone call went, according to Greg:
“(Cole) said, ‘Sir, I don’t mean to be disrespectful at all, but I’ve gotta know because I’ve got some crazy friends. Is this a prank?’ The guy said, ‘Hold on just a second.’ And then Bill Belichick got on the phone and of course, unless you’ve been under a rock for the last 20 years, you know Bill Belichick’s voice.
“As soon as I heard Bill Belichick’s voice, Cole and I both started screaming and hugging and acting crazy. Probably saying a bunch of inappropriate stuff. We were so excited. To his credit, you’ve gotta love the guy, Belichick is sitting there and when we got through, the first break he had, he said, ‘Hey Cole, you’ve gotta act like you’ve been there, man.’ It was classic to us. We absolutely loved it.”