I Think a Legendary Patriots Linebacker Wants to Beat Me Up

Cj Gunther. Shutterstock Images.

I'm minding my own business. Wrapping up my usual slightly honest half-day's work and heading off to my Wednesday night golf league when my phone started blowing up. OK, not exactly blowing up like Hezbollah pagers. But blowing up by the standards of how many of my friends and neighbors listen to my old station WEEI these days. Which is apparently a few. They were texting to tell me about this:

This is not the first time Ted Johnson referenced this blog I wrote back in January of 2025. He might not remember my name. 

Giphy Images.

Or at least performatively pretends not to, in order to show how little I mean to him. But I do mean enough that he remembers my work. Most definitely. Because it obviously left a scar that has not healed. This is the post:

In response to this comment by him:

Here's what I wrote over a year and a half ago that Johnson is still shook by:

“How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child." - King Lear, Act I, Scene 4

Of all the great philosophical debates of our times, none has had the legs of "How much of it was Brady and how much of it was Belichick?" … It's a perennial, even five full seasons after the two GOATs split up like they were Hall and Oates. The instant cure for a slow news day. 

And so it was no surprise when it came up on WEEI's afternoon show, given that new co-host Ted Johnson has been in the New England media a long time. And that his broadcast career has been based on several key points:

--He's knowledgeable about football.

--He played in the NFL a long time.

--He played for Bill Belichick a long time.

--His resentment for Belichick burns with the white hot intensity of a million air fryers. 

Look, I'm not saying that's all Johnson has been doing on the Boston airwaves for the past 20 years. But his disdain for his old coach is definitely the major asset he's been bringing to the studio desk. More than any other member of the Patriots Three Ring Club - by far - he's been critical of the man who built the empire. Having him come on a show and not badmouth Belichick would be like going to see Train and having them not do "Drops of Jupiter." Johnson's just playing the hits people come to hear. 

"You want me to chop it up? I go, 60[%] Brady. Are you ready? You're not gonna like this. I go 30% Others, 10% Bill."

Some takes a so hot, one Keanu is not enough:

Giphy Images.

Giphy Images.

I will gladly - OK, grudgingly - concede that the people who gave Brady most of the credit all that time have had a great five years. … [T]hey get to point at the post 2019 scoreboard and say, "See? Told ya!" Winners get to write the history.

But 10% is utterly preposterous. Even if, like Johnson, you're predisposed to not give coaches much credit anyway. …

Every decision of The Dynasty of which Johnson was a part had Bill's fingerprints on it. Every roster move. Draft pick. Coaching hire. Front office hire. Game plan. In-game adjustment. Judgement call. Clock management decision. Timeout called. Challenge flag thrown. For two dozen seasons. All the while he was losing his top assistants and personnel staffers every couple of seasons as other franchises and college programs tried to replicate his success. And dozens, scores, maybe even hundreds of his best players were getting lured away in free agency for the same reason. And the one constant throughout all of it was his teams kept winning.

Was Brady 60% of the reason those defenses were consistently at or near the top of the league? Or the Special Teams among the best? Does he get most of the credit for the game plans that put Denver Boots on the wheels of The Greatest Show on Turf, the Colts of 2003-04, and kept Sean McVay's Rams out of the end zone? Was it Brady who beat not one but both co-MVP QBs in the same AFC playoffs? Whose Special Teams scored two touchdowns to beat the heavily favored Steelers at Pittsburgh in the AFC championship game while Brady was injured? Who went 11-5 with Matt Cassel?

Who got 1,000-yard rushing seasons out of the likes of Antowain Smith, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Stevan Ridley, LeGarrette Blount and 1,600 out of a 30 year old Corey Dillon, who had gained a reputation as a coach-killing quitter in Cincinnati just the year before?

Who made the decision to take the intentional safety in Denver? Who said "We'll take the wind" and kicked it off to Manning in overtime? Who came up with the Ineligible Receiver formations that led to two 14-point comebacks to beat Baltimore in 2014? What other Head Coach's galaxy brain could've inspired a 20-part blog series counting down his Greatest Moments that still wasn't long enough?

Sorry. Harbor old beefs all you want, Ted Johnson. As a matter of fact, like the Irishman I am, I respect anyone who can hold an irrational grudge as long as you apparently have:

It takes a big man to not let something go and move on after 20-plus years. And I truly appreciate the effort it takes. Good hustle. But if nothing else, how about giving him the credit for drafting Brady, keeping four quarterbacks in his rookie season, then naming him the permanent starter when half of New England was screaming for Drew Bledsoe to get "his" QB1 job back? That alone ought to bring him up to 15-20%, at least.

The bottom line is that it's preposterous to spend 20 years talking like everything that's ever gone wrong in Foxboro is 90% the Head Coach's fault, and then only give him 10% of the credit for all that went right. Even for a disgruntled former employee.

In all honesty, I haven't read this blog since I posted it on January 29th of 2025. I write a lot of blogs. And I don't laugh at my own jokes, nor am I one to sit back, admire my handiwork, nod in approval and say, "Ya done good, Thornton." But after further review, I do like this one. It has a little of everything. Strong, honest opinions, with respect for the opposite point of view. A couple of clever lines. Everything from Shakespeare to Train to Keanu.

What I can't seem to find in there is anything for Ted Johnson, a man with three Super Bowl rings and a long post-football career in media, to get cheesed off about. Not then, and certainly not in August of 2026. If anything, I'm complimentary. I defer to his experience and expertise on the subject matter. There's no insult. Nothing personal. I don't go ad hominem at all. For the life of me, I can't see why he went on this tirade. If I had his life and someone disagreed with my hot take in this way, I'd never run out of fucks not to give about it. It's a sports debate. Which, unless I'm missing something, is sort of the point of a radio show that debates sports. 

More to the point, I'm correct. It's demonstrably true that Ted Johnson has been going negative on Belichick for years. I don't even see how that's debatable. It's the major characteristic Pats fans identify him with. It's his brand. The Guy With 3 Rings Who Speaks (His) Truth to Power, if you will. He's the one who goes against the grain. 

That's hardly an insult. I mean, if someone said I belong in the Roger Goodell Hater Hall of Fame, I wouldn't be offended. I'd send them my jacket size and start working on my acceptance speech about how Ginger Satan was raised by Baphomet to corrupt human souls. 

As far as the stuff about how everyone who criticizes sports radio hosts secretly wish they could do that job? Um. Geez, this is awkward. I don't know how to break it to him. But I did that very job for that station in that same time slot for two years. The only reason I no longer do was my choice entirely. I was offered a contract. I liked the opportunity to come back to Barstool. Dave Portnoy and I spent 90 seconds hammering out our negotiations, and I've never for one hot second regretted my decision. 

Now as far as his comments about Barstool is for people who aren't talented enough to be actual journalists, I don't think I've ever heard a point get missed so badly, by so far, in all my life. This is to describing our jobs what Anthony Fauci's first pitch was to strikes:

Any notion that we'd all rather be Journos, writing up game reports and doing locker room interviews for the Globe or Herald is laughable. The "Belichick Deserves 10% of the Credit" of understanding what Barstool is. 

Still, George is willing to talk it out. Johnson reached out and offered a Lunch Summit, and I'll accept:

… they are writing about an opportunity to defend the opinions, that you so shamelessly attacked and ridiculed.  If you're the man above reproach all your fans think you are, then you'll call me so we can plan to meet for lunch and clear the air.  Tell you what, leave your wallet at home….I really appreciate the effort to connect with me, so the least I can do is buy you lunch.  I'm sure you know someone who has my cell…looking forward to finally meeting you! 

Ordinarily, just for my own safety, I'd make sure such a lunch meeting is in a crowded public place and check the behind the toilet tank to make sure there's not a handgun taped to the back. But Johnson is 6-foot-4, 253 pounds. And I saw him take on blocks from the likes of Alan Faneca and Kevin Mawae. And watched him break Marshall Faulk's will in Super Bowl XXXVI. If he wants to snap me in two like Macho Man on a Slim Jim, the skills I learned on the Weymouth South High School freshman team won't be of any use. 

If that should happen, know that I died as I lived. Making some people laugh, pissing off others, defending Belichick, and filling air time on Boston sports radio.