The New England Patriots famously had one of the greatest dynasties in all of sports from the early 2000s to the late 2010s. This is all despite some pretty questionable activities during practice, which Hall of Fame cornerback Ty Law shared during an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show on Monday.
Law played for the organization from 1995-2004, playing a huge role on three Super Bowl championship teams in 2001, 2003, and 2004.
The years that Law had with the organization helped spark success for the organization that would span for over a decade after his departure from New England in 2005.
However, Law shared that the culture within the team may not have been as tightly run before legendary head coach Bill Belichick got to town.
On The Dan Patrick Show, Law shared that he and other Patriots players would drink whiskey out of a flask during Patriots practices provided by former star linebacker turned NFL coach Mike Vrabel.
“We did it in practice,” said Law when asked by Dan Patrick if he had ever consumed alcohol before or during an NFL game. “Mike Vrabel used to have the flask. So we would all go to Vrabel and hit the flask. He had some whiskey or something. He had everybody else getting the flask.”
Hall of Famer Ty Law told us that he and other #Patriots players would drink whiskey out of Mike Vrabel's flask for practices. pic.twitter.com/d7hgMXNXBP
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) January 22, 2024
Law then shared how dangerous this truly used to be at the time, sharing that he and his teammates used to drink in the car while traveling to practice.
“We used to have to drive to practice too. We had to get in our car with our shoulder pads on like we were in Little League, driving over there with helmets and shoulder pads on just being silly. Hell yeah, we was taking drinks in the car. So Coach Parcells, Pete [Carroll], yeah when we were over there at the other practice facility it was going down on that little five-minute drive. It was cold outside.”
Law did assure Patrick that he never drank before or during a game, which makes sense when you consider just how great of a player Law was in games.
“Not for me, I have never drank before a game. I had to go out there and cover them fast guys. I can’t go out there covering Marvin Harrison, Randy Moss, and T.O. with alcohol in my system. I’d be on the wrong end of those highlights.”
Fortunately, Law ended up having quite the legacy in New England, so practicing under the influence didn’t seem to hurt him or his teammates all that much in the long run.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.