Former Patriots LB Says Team ‘Treats Players Like Crap’

Linebacker Cassius Marsh may be the dictionary definition of an NFL journeyman. In seven NFL seasons, he’s played for seven franchises, including a 2017 stint with the New England Patriots.

The former UCLA standout was acquired in a trade by the Patriots in 2017, after being drafted by the Seattle Seahawks. He was waived later that season, and has gone on to play for the San Francisco 49ers, the Seahawks a second time, the Arizona Cardinals, Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Indianapolis Colts. He is currently entering the season with the Pittsburgh STeelers, after signing with the team off the Colts practice squad in December.

Even with his own spot in the league fairly tenuous, he’s not afraid to open up about his previous teams. That includes the Patriots, led by legendary head coach Bill Belichick.

“The Patriot Way is pretty, it’s extremely impressive,” he said during a recent appearance on comedian Tom Segura’s 2 Bears, 1 Cave podcast (video below, language is Not Safe For Work). “Like, they work day in and day out, their work ethic over there, what they instill is pretty legendary. But they also treat players like crap.”

Among the charges from Marsh: the team doesn’t give players a lunch period, so guys have to make time for food in the few minutes between meetings. He has previously said that the team has “no fun,” but told Segura that some other former New England Patriots have thanked him for opening up about the culture there.

Marsh says guys put up with it because of the chance to win a Super Bowl. Via CBS Boston:

“Here’s the thing. Like, over there, nobody says anything publicly, because they’ve won so many championships. So you don’t want to upset the fan base, because after you win a Super Bowl, you can get paid for signings in New England for the rest of your life, because you’re a Super Bowl champ,” Marsh said. “So it was funny like when I did that article, a lot of the players like thanked me for like making it public on how bad they treat guys.”

He also wasn’t afraid to drag Bill Belichick’s dry meeting style, which he compared negatively to the “college atmosphere” of his first coach, Pete Carroll.

“Nobody plays around with Bill. I mean … nobody plays with Bill for the most part… So he walks in there and then he comes up to like a podium and he addresses the team for like 45 minutes to an hour every morning. He talks about the GM’s history, talks about the team’s history, talks about defensive, offensive coordinator’s history, the way that they used to run their defense, the way that they run their defense now, the history of all of the coaches.

“Super, super exciting to listen to him talk. Yeah.”

Marsh clearly isn’t expecting Belichick to pick the phone up the next time he needs EDGE depth.

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