Former Player Once Crashed Car To Avoid Bill Belichick's Wrath

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick notoriously runs a tight ship.

As we (unsurprisingly) learned this week, he's a no-nonsense guy who, frankly, doesn't have time for your fantasy football questions.

Just how strict is Belichick, though? Well, former Patriots offensive lineman Rich Ohrnberger once intentionally wrecked his car when he was going to be late to practice just so he had a viable excuse for his head coach.

"I was driving a Chevy Tahoe, and it says I'm late already, or, I'm gonna be," Ohrnberger told the Hartman And Rich O Show this week. "I'm like five minutes to being officially late, and I've got a 15-minute drive ahead of me."

Rich Ohrnberger had no interest in dealing with an angry Bill Belichick. (Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images)

Instead of dealing with Belichick's wrath -- "I had this sinking feeling in my stomach ... I'm gonna get cut," he said -- Ohrnberger chose door No. 2 when he noticed a beat-up church van just in front of him.

"I'm cruising down this slight sloping hill that brings you to the first traffic light that I have to turn right to get to the stadium for the morning meeting," the 2009 fourth round pick recalled.

"I see a church van in front of me that's all dinged up, and it's got the black smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe, and I'm just like, 'I'm gonna hit this car.'"

So, he did. Better to deal with the insurance companies than an angry Belichick!

Problem was, the van actually had someone inside. Thankfully, nobody was injured from the minor collision and the van was OK, too.