As we all know Coach Bill Belichick isn’t afraid to let players go, in order to improve his team. But can you imagine getting cut on the most wonderful time of the year?
An Ex teammate of the ball club TE Asante Cleveland who now plays for the San Diego Chargers remembers last Christmas like it was yesterday. He received a call from Belichick and it was some of the worse news you can hear, Especially on Christmas day:
“He was like, ‘Hey Asante. It’s Belichick,’” Cleveland recounted, doing his best Belichick voice impression. “He said, ‘We’re going to have to make some roster moves.’ At that point, I knew what ‘roster moves’ means. It means I’m being moved from the roster. We needed to bring in a cornerback because we were playing the Jets.
“He said, ‘I just want to let you know this is no indication we’re moving away from you. We really like you. … We just need to make this quick transaction.’ That call ended. I said, ‘Merry Christmas.’ I don’t know if he heard me. He didn’t say it back.”
The Chargers claimed Cleveland the following Monday before the Patriots could re-sign him, even though it was pretty harsh for Belichick make the move on that day, Cleveland said he understand its apart of the NFL Business and its no hard feelings.