Former New England Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel has spoken about his time with the organisation and his relationship with the team’s philosophy.

When you think of the great dynasties that have existed throughout the sporting world, you’ve got the Manchester united sides under Sir Alex Ferguson, the Chicago Bulls sides of the 1990s but arguably the greatest of them all, based on how many titles they won and how they managed to stay near the top for so long, was the New England Patriots sides of the new millennium. 

Starting from the 2001 season all the way through to 2019 they didn’t have a losing season, won 17 AFC East division titles and 6 Super Bowls which now puts them level with the Pittsburgh Steelers as the most won by any organisation in the Super Bowl era.

And whilst a lot of that was undoubtedly down to being lucky enough to have the greatest quarterback of all time in Tom Brady leading the offence, a lot of the early Patriots sides were led by their defence, and Asante Samuel was a key part of that.

Making his mark

Whilst with the Patriots from 2003-2007, Samuel was one of the best shutdown corners in the league, registering an impressive 22 interceptions, 3 of which turned into touchdowns whilst also batting away a further 79 passes that were thrown his way. He was also named First-team All-Pro and to the Pro Bowl during their 18-1 season in 2007. 

It takes a lot of discipline and skill to be able to pull that off in the NFL, but to help turn the Patriots into the powerhouse that they were, it took something extra special, something that became known as ‘The Patriot Way’, which as per former linebacker Rob Ninkovich meant “putting the team first, not selfish, doing what’s best for the team, putting the team’s goals in front of your own personal goals”.

This was arguably best exemplified by Brady taking a reported $60m in paycuts in order to keep the team competitive and bring players in. However according to Samuel, that wasn’t in his mantra. 

Not drinking the Kool-Aid

Speaking on the I Am Athlete podcast (quoted by MassLive), Samuel admitted that he wasn’t necessarily all the way committed when it came to the Patriots as an organisation, and that his only focus was making sure he got his money:

“Some of them be brainwashed with that Patriot Way. I ain’t going for none of that. I don’t know what no Patriot Way is.” “All of them is company men, talking about Patriot Way. I don’t know none of that. I’m here to get money, take care of my family, the same way Belichick is here to take care of his family, get his money. So when you try to hold my money back and you want all your money, I ain’t got no respect for you.”

At least you can credit him with being honest about what he wanted out of the game, but by the sounds of it, he might not be invited back to Gillette Stadium for any Super Bowl reunion parades if that is how he feels about the organisation.