The former Patriots, who run through Stevan Ridley, did not forget his welcome from Bill Belichick when New England chose him in the third round of the 2011 NFL Draft.
While appearing in Named Games PodcastRidley recalled that the former Patriot coach had put him in “fat camp.”
“I think I'll start with the way Bill put me in fat camp,” Ridley told New England's former Patriot Wideout teammate Julian Edelman.
“You're that encounter where you're coming there, you're a rookie and he's going to gain weight on you and I'll go into the weight room and take me to the office. [former Patriots strength coach Harold] Nash said, “Jump on the scale, Ridley.” I jumped on the scale and I'm about 235-238 pounds. I played at LSU around 230 as a running back. There are plenty of 8 pounds.
“…I think I was tilting that between 235 and 240 pounds… I have a big back. Hey, coach, you drafted me, so I obviously did something, you like what you saw.”
Ridley recalled that Nash said “there is something to do” to meet Belichick's £220 demand.
“How? I said, “You stumble, you're a mate,” Ridley recalled. “[Nash] “Don't ask me, I'm telling you what my boss guy said.” ”
Ridley said he went to Belichick's office to meet him.
“I'm not really scared… I'm naive… I'll go talk to Bill,” Ridley said with a laugh. “…I walked and said I said the coach, I need to talk about this weight…and I'm making sure this is the right weight.
“…I said [220] It's impossible… I'll do anything with my ass busting, but I can say a little about me… I've pulled out my driver's license.
Ridley explained that since obtaining her driver's license and this permit, “I was 5 feet 11 pounds and 220 pounds.”
“He slaps his lips a bit and says, 'Well, I, I, I, I, I, it's about $563 a day, so it's really up to you because you're just overweight.
“…He was like per pound per day, and he doubled it.
Ridley said he agreed to go to a “fat camp” because he “has no money like that.”
Ridley explained that with the help of a nutritionist, he requested that he change his diet, run before practice, and that he would change his diet along with other structures and disciplines of his training. He added that he was happy he was “on boarding” the program because he was “as quickly as a cat” afterwards.
“You're going to New England, of course, you're going there. It's Bill Belichick. Bill is intimidating,” he said of his current football coach. “You have to give him that. He knows what he's doing and has the system in place. You won't ruin him. You respect him.”
Ridley hurried for 1,263 yards in 2013 and gave 12 touchdowns.
Ridley was part of the Patriot team that defeated the Seahawks in the Super Bowl in the 2014 season despite suffering a season-ending knee injury in October.
The Patriots chose not to bring Ridley home during free agency in 2015. He signed with the Jets and spent a short time with the Lions, Colts, Falcon, Broncos, Vikings and Steelers.
He retired after playing the 2018 season with the Steelers.
