Former Patriots Great Matt Light Used To Hunt Turkeys Behind Gillette Stadium
When Matt Light wasn't protecting Tom Brady's blind side, he was in the blind — the hunting blind, that is.
During an appearance on the Games with Names podcast, Light admitted to former New England Patriots teammate Julian Edelman that he used to hunt turkeys right behind Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. The All-Pro left tackle claimed he got away with it because Patriots owner Robert Kraft simply pretended not to know what he was doing back there.
"I would hunt right behind the stadium. I pulled up, and I hunted that property forever," Light said. "Because Mr. Kraft was like, 'I don't know anything about what you're doing.' I'm like, ‘All right, cool.’ It was like a green light, right?"
Spring turkey season in Massachusetts runs from late April to late May. That's when NFL teams run their voluntary off-season workouts, or OTAs. Light explained that he’d often hunt in the early morning hours before heading into the facility.
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One morning, though, a security guard approached him and told the three-time Pro Bowler that he was not allowed to hunt there. Light informed the guard that he was going to do it anyway. And it was an eventful morning from there.
"I walk right in and set my tent up, and I wait for it to get light," Light said of that particular hunt. "Bird gobbles, flies down, and sits right next to my decoy. I shoot him, I breast him out, and I take him [inside] — I’d always put them in the fridge in the meal room."
Imagine Brady heading to the refrigerator to grab his kale avocado protein shake (or whatever it is that dude eats) and finding his O-lineman's big dead bird posted up on the top shelf.
Matt Light played 11 seasons for the New England Patriots.
(Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports)
Unfortunately, though, Light had to stop hunting at Gillette when the fun police — a.k.a. head coach Bill Belichick — stepped in.
"As I'm eating breakfast, Bill walks in, and he's like, 'You can't have a weapon on stadium property,'" Light recalled. "I go, 'Bill, it says you can't have a handgun. You can't have a gun. I had a bow and arrow.' …He goes, ‘You want to argue with me about what the rules say?’
"And when he said that, I started second guessing myself. I'm like, ‘Damn, maybe it did say ’weapon.'"
Matt Light: ‘I Have A Real Problem When It Comes To Turkey Hunting’
While Belichick may have put the kibosh on turning Gillette Stadium into his own personal hunting grounds, Light didn't give up the sport. In fact, during an appearance on The Bulletin podcast, the retired athlete went so far as to say that he's addicted to turkey hunting because there's something "spiritual" about it.
"There's something about just you and the things around you and just being present, not making noise, being quiet, listening, watching, observing," Light said. "There's something spiritual about it, and it's kind of like being in church. It's kind of like meditation. I mean, it's all these things that can help center you.
"And yeah, so I would say that maybe chasing wild turkey in the spring saved my career, or at least prolonged it in some way. But it's always had that effect on me — just being in the outdoors. There's nothing like it on planet Earth."
Selected out of Purdue in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft, Light played 11 NFL seasons — all for New England. He won three Super Bowls with the Pats and is a member of the Patriots All-2000s Team, the All-Dynasty Team, the 50th Anniversary Team and the Patriots Hall of Fame.
He's probably also the only player ever to stuff a fresh gobbler in the team fridge, but they don't give awards for that.