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(PHOTO: Christopher Hanewinckel - USA TODAY Sports) Who doesn’t love a good behind-the scenes Bill Belichick story?
Back in October of 2016, Belichick traded a 2017 sixth round pick to the Detroit Lions for linebacker Kyle Van Noy and a 2017 seventh rounder.
At the time the trade largely flew under the radar as Van Noy had a relatively quiet start to his career where he started just seven games over his first two and a half seasons in Detroit.
That is until head coach Bill Belichick began to unleash his full potential.
Speaking with Bleacher Report’s Adam Lefkoe this past Thursday on his podcast, Van Noy shared a funny story of his first interaction with coach Belichick following the trade.
“It wasn’t until on the field, he does his little ‘twirling his whistle’ thing, where he’s like, ‘Hey Van Noy, come here real quick,’ ” Van Noy said. “It was during a punt team (session), so it was in the middle of practice. He hadn’t said nothing to me.
” … And he’s like, ‘You know, Van Noy: I always get my guys.’ ”
Kyle Van Noy found out how diabolical Bill Belichick is the first time he met him 🤣
"He's not playing checkers. He's playing chess."
(via @LefkoeShow) pic.twitter.com/yUA3euadcP
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) July 16, 2020
Initially Van Noy was perplexed by Belichick’s “I get my guys” comment.
“At first I’m like, ‘What the hell?’ ” Van Noy said. “But later when I saw the whole bigger picture and where I was positioned and what I was doing, I was like, ‘Hot damn. This dude is not playing checkers. He’s playing chess.’ He’s thinking five steps ahead of people, and it’s really impressive.”
Van Noy was a key defensive piece to three trips to the Super Bowl under Belichick, winning two championships.
Over his Patriots career, Van Noy set career single season-high’s in sacks, starts and tackles, logging 16.5 total sacks over that span.
On March 21st, Van Noy signed a four-year, $51 million free-agent contract with the division rival Miami Dolphins.
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