He was angry. So blessed angry. This was six games into the 2005 season and Heath Evans was just informed by phone the Dolphins cut him. But even as his blood cooked the phone rang again. New England wanted to see him.
"A hurricane was coming that day, it was a 45-minute drive down to Dolphins camp and I wasn't going down there just to turn in my playbook,'' Evans, now a NFL Network analyst, said. "I was too angry to do that."
The next day he entered the Patriots coach's office and slid the Dolphins playbook across the desk.
"Here, have this,'' he told Belichick. "I don't know if you're going to sign me or not. But this is yours."
Do you see now? Does it suggest why Belichick has the Dolphins-to-Patriots information pipeline flowing again before Sunday's opener? And hint why Dolphins' coach Joe Philbin returned fire Thursday evening by signing former Patriots defensive tackle Bruce Gaston?
Two days ago, Philbin shrugged off the strategic advantage of Belichick signing recently cut Dolphins Don Jones and Marcus Thigpen. But then he signed Gaston, who was a Patriot for just four days until cut on Wednesday.
Those four days behind enemy lines might be telling for Gaston and his new team, though. The Patriots surely began installing their gameplan for Sunday. Maybe a sliver of information can be found. At the very least, Philbin can tweak Belichick at his own waiver-wire game.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-dolphins/fl-dave-hyde-column-0905-20140904,0,7597406.column