Speaking to his former player on the Richard Sherman Podcast on Tuesday, Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll revealed that he had a disagreement with New England owner Robert Kraft while he was coaching the Patriots over the processed pork sausage commonly called bologna.
Carroll, who took over in New England for Bill Parcells after he left to coach the New York Jets following Super Bowl XXI, told Sherman that his problems running the Patriots started in minicamp when Kraft made things “a little challenging” as they discussed what the team would feed its players.
“I’m figuring into the menu for the players on that weekend. And Kraft comes to me and says, ‘Well, you know, we’re not gonna feed them like that. We give them bologna sandwiches, and chips and stuff like that,”’ Carroll, who was the last head coach in New England before Bill Belichick took over, said. “It hit me just as clear as a bell. I thought, ‘I’m in deep trouble. I mean, if I can’t even feed them the way I wanna feed them, what’s gonna come?’ I mean, he didn’t know what he was asking for at the time. We didn’t cover bologna sandwich stuff in interviews.”
Are Hot Dogs the Single Worst Thing You Could Put in Your Body?
The numbers aren’t great. But are franks the unhealthiest of the processed meats?The beef over bologna didn’t have an immediate impact on the team as Carroll was able to guide the Patriots to a 10-6 record and a playoff berth in his first season in New England. The 71-year-old coach lasted two more seasons in New England but was canned following the 1999 campaign and replaced by Belichick.
That move clearly worked out for all parties as Belichick and the Patriots have had an unprecedented amount of success since 2000 and Carroll had a great run at USC before taking over in Seattle and winning a Super Bowl with the Seahawks.
Though the Patriots aren’t worth $9.2 billion like the Dallas Cowboys, Kraft’s football franchise is valued at $6.7 billion so hopefully bologna is no longer in the playbook at Gillette Stadium. Sliced hot dogs on the other hand…
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