Legends
'How 'bout Tiger f---ing Woods?!': This story about Randy Moss clowning Bill Belichick about Tiger is all-time
Like his mentor Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick has always been a master motivator. They both knew what buttons to push and when to push them. An attempt to motivate one of his legendary New England Patriots squads once backfired in a tremendously hilarious way, however. And it somehow involved ... Tiger Woods?
As Julian Edelman told it on the Let's Go SiriusXM podcast with Tom Brady and Randy Moss, Belichick liked to use the offseason as an opportunity to inspire his team for the upcoming season. One year, Belichick did an hour-long presentation on the 15-time major champion, highlighting his tireless work ethic.
"This guy lays out an hour-long presentation on why Tiger Woods is Tiger f---ing Woods," Edelman said, which caused Moss and Brady to instantly break out in laughter. "He's sitting there.. 'you guys are over in Vegas in the offseason, this guy's f---ing hitting his 7 iron. He's at the greens putting.'
"And like three weeks later," Edelman continued, "the whole Tiger saga came out, right? Three weeks later."
Woods has had a number of "sagas" over the years, but we have to assume this particular saga Edelman is referring to is the Thanksgiving incident of 2009 (Moss' final full season on the team), which eventually led to Woods' various infidelities becoming public knowledge. That was poor timing for Belichick, and Moss made sure he knew about it in a way only Moss could.
"As soon as it came out, we're in stretch lines and Bill's walking around and he's got his little whistle and his doing his little whistle twirl. And all of a sudden you hear out of left field 'AYE BILL!," said Edelman, mimicking Moss. "'AYE BILLLLL!!' You see Belichick and he just shakes his head, he knew exactly what [was coming]. 'HOW 'BOUT TIGER F---ING WOODS?!?!?'"
Absolutely brilliant storytelling from Edelman. Moss and Brady didn't even have to say a word, and you could tell they both knew exactly the story he was about to tell the moment he mentioned Tiger Woods. Moments like that you just don't forget.
The other thing this story did was serve as a reminder that Randy Moss is truly one-of-a-kind. You have to imagine that other than Brady, Moss was the only one who could get away with checking Belichick like that. And he was definitely the only one with the stones to do it, too. A GOAT in every sense of the phrase.