Anyone who has watched Mike Vrabel on the football field both as a player and now as a coach is certainly aware that he’s an intense guy, and that intensity extends far beyond the gridiron.
In fact, if you’re in Boston and you tend to make a stop at Starbucks in the morning, there’s a certain pet peeve that will get you on Vrabel’s bad side, and he’s not joking around.
The New England Patriots head coach told Dianna Russini during an appearance recently that if he sees someone park in a handicapped spot who isn’t handicapped, he’s not afraid to get out and let you know about it.
“The people at Starbucks that park in a handicapped spot and go in there and try to get their order from the mobile order,” said Vrabel, when asked about things that drive him nuts. “By no means handicapped. I look in the dash, I look, and then I wait. Then I approach them. And I say things like, ‘Why did you park here?’ One person would be like, ‘I’m with DoorDash.’ I’m like, ‘I don’t care. That’s unacceptable.’ And then there’s the mom that’s going to yoga, and she’s rushing because she’s late. I’m like, ‘This is ridiculous.’”
When asked if he’s policing that practice, Vrabel smiled and went a step further.
“I accost them,” said Vrabel. “When I didn’t have a job, I had nothing else to do. I’m like, I could sit here for 15 minutes, wait for this person to come out, and actually see if they’re handicapped, and that they don’t have a license or anything.”
He joked that he looks for the plate and that he feels a ‘citizen’s arrest’ would be an option. However, if he had his way, he wouldn’t play around.
“I’d slash their tires,” he said. “That’s how much it bothers me.”
Russini then suggested the coach get a locking boot, which Vrabel thought was a great suggestion.
“I wish I had a boot. That’s a great idea,” said Vrabel. “I would boot their car, just like a mobile boot that said, ‘I parked in a handicap spot and I’m not handicapped.’”
Needless to say, without knowing which Starbucks Vrabel frequents, if you’re someone who parks in the handicapped spot for the sake of running in, you might want to be careful. There could be a 6’4” former NFL linebacker outside waiting to give you some choice words when you come back outside.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
