When Harrison thinks of that season, he remembers something that would be soothing
only to a former Patriot. “
What was comforting was Bill’s monotone voice. It was still there during this,” Harrison said. “The entire world was panicking. We were stunned. There are a lot of emotions in football, but he was always the same.” Belichick, Harrison said, addressed the Brady injury only once. “He told us the media would try to divide us and hit the panic button but that we won’t panic. He was not like, ‘Oh my god, the world is ending.’”
The sense of calmness defined the season. This was the year that “Do Your Job,” the unofficial franchise motto, was put to the test. Harrison said that previous injuries had prepared the team for this:
Belichick was insistent that everything must stay the same afterward, and the loss of the best quarterback in football would be no exception.
For Cassel, just
playing in the NFL seemed like a long shot—let alone capably replacing one of the best QBs to ever do it. Cassel did not start a game at quarterback from November 1999 until September 2008. At USC, he backed up Heisman Trophy winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart. At one point, the team
tried to convert him to tight end.
“Coach Belichick was incredible that entire year,” Cassel said. “When coach found out Tom was hurt, he just casually goes, ‘OK, Cassel, you’re in the game,’ and that was it.” Cassel said he’d been on teams in the past where a starter goes down and coaches start talking about the issue or worrying too much. “There was nothing like that here. It was ‘
OK, we’re closing ranks, we’re moving forward,’ and that was his mentality the entire time I was there.
He was a great supporter, and I got confidence because of it.”
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