"It’s better to pay the insurance than embarrass myself" - Ex-Patriots star intentionally got into car crash to avoid wrath of Bill Belichick

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has coached in the NFL for nearly half a century. During that time, he has developed a reputation for a no-nonsense, football-first approach. He does not suffer fools and he has no space for time-wasters.

A multitude of players have spoken about the "Patroits approach" fostered by Belichick in New England. Many of them mentioned the fear they had of falling foul of the infamous Belichick wrath.

However, former Patriots lineman Rich Ohrnberger took things to a whole new level to prevent disappointing the head coach. During an appearance on the Hartman & Rich O Show, Ohrnberger described an incident where he was running late for training.

Here's what he said:

"I wake up, my phone died overnight, and I realize I’m waking up to the sound of birds chirping and not my alarm going off. I am frantic. I don’t even bother looking at the clock, I know I’m late."

He continued:

"I’m five minutes to being officially late, and I’ve got a 15 minute drive ahead of me. I’m gonna be 10 minutes late for this day. I have this sinking feeling in my stomach like, ‘I’m gonna be cut. he's not gonna have me on this football team come tomorrow.' What do I do?"

Ohrnberger then detailed the drastic lengths he went to:

"I see a church van in front of me that’s all dinged up and it’s got the black smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe and I’m like, ‘I’m gonna hit this car. It’s better to pay the insurance than embarrass myself by being late for a Patriots team meeting.'”

This really demonstrates the reputation Bill Belichick has in the NFL.

It's not always strictly business for Bill Belichick

Super Bowl LI - New England Patriots v Atlanta Falcons

Those who know the New England head coach best, talk at length about his dry wit and great sense of humor. Over the years, that has become more evident, and was on full display during the 2020 NFL Draft.

As the camera cut to the Belichick household, they were expecting to find the man himself sitting in front of his laptop. However, Belichick trolled the entire NFL community when the camera was greeted by his dog, Nike, obediently sitting in front of the computer screen, readying himself to make the pick.

For those not convinced that the head coach has a fun side, would the image of him dressed as a roller-skating pirate change your mind? Well, thanks to Randy Moss and the NFL cameras, that’s exactly what we got. It turns out he is a big fan of Halloween.

In 2009, NFL cameras followed the Patriots to record an episode of A Football Life. They caught a conversation between, HOF wideout Randy Moss and his then head coach. Belichick was asked if he would like to come to his Halloween party, and Moss was visibly shocked when he agreed, declaring it "a great holiday."

Always a man of his word, he arrived wearing roller-skates, dressed as a pirate, creating an image that no-one will ever forget.

If you use any of the above quotes, please credit the USA Today, Hartman & Rich O Show and H/T Sportskeeda.