What’s the secret to Bill Belichick’s success in New England? His big, green balls.
An urban legend within the Patriots organization is that the 69-year-old coach rewards his hardest-working coaches with wads of cash, according to the book “It’s Better To Be Feared: The New England Patriots Dynasty and the Pursuit of Greatness” by Seth Wickersham, which covers the team’s dynasty in the 21st century.
The wads are known affectionately among staffers as “green balls,” according to Insider, and can be worth thousands of dollars.
Belichick doesn’t stop there. Wickersham writes that once the team gets to the playoffs, the head coach often writes “a personal check to staffers who had overperformed — sometimes up to six figures” out of his personal bank account.
It’s clear Belichick knows that cash is king when it comes to motivating staffers. The book also noted, however, that the work culture under Belichick has often been described as “quiet and lifeless.”
It surely doesn’t hurt, then, having those green balls dangled in your face as an extra pick-me-up.
