With the New England Patriots, former safety Ross Ventrone was up-and-down more than a yo-yo. It wasn’t until he joined the Pittsburgh Steelers in the mid-2010s that he found some semblance of stability. Appearing on the Christian Kuntz podcast that aired Thursday, Ventrone told a wild story of being cut literal minutes before boarding a team plane to Oakland. It shows the lengths head coach Bill Belichick would go to test the boundaries of roster construction.
Ventrone said after a good week of practice in which he received reps, the team planned on him travelling to a 2011 game against the then-Oakland Raiders. He bought a suit, packed his bags and headed to the facility to go through security and board the plane. Until Belichick called him with some bad news.
“He’s like, ‘Alright, so, we’re gonna let you go,'” Ventrone said of Belichick’s message. “I’m like thinking to myself, ‘My bag’s outside the door.’ Fuck you mean you’re letting me go, right? What do you mean you’re letting me go?
“We’re gonna let you go,” Belichick said on the other line. “We’re gonna sign you back to the practice squad once you clear waivers on Monday.'”
Ventrone was cut and signed a comical number of times during his first stint with New England. Signed as an UDFA in 2010, by Sept. 2012, he was cut or re-signed 29 times. By the end of his playing days, that number would grow to over 30 with the Patriots alone. And just when he thought he was finally sticking, the Patriots were cutting him.
But Belichick brought a request with his bad news. Since the team was leaving on a Friday and pre-game transactions wouldn’t officially take place until Saturday, Ventrone needed to lay low for the night. Considering everyone thought he was on a plane to the West Coast.
“[Bill Belichick] was like, ‘Now we’re going, we’re going outta town. We’re leaving today. Don’t leave your house tonight. I don’t want people seeing you out and about. ‘Cause we’re bringing you back and we’re gonna make the move tomorrow at 1 o’clock.'”
And so the Patriots left without Ventrone. They beat the Raiders 31-19 on Sunday, flew back, and signed Ventrone to the practice squad on Monday.
Double-checking Ventrone’s story, since some player’s memories get fuzzy over time, his completely checks out. This transaction log shows him being waived on Saturday, Oct. 1 and signed back that Monday. The Boston Herald spelled out the other side of the transaction, signing OT Thomas Welch off the practice squad in Ventrone’s place (this was before the days of practice squad elevations).
As he told the story on Kuntz’s show, Ventrone questioned if he should even reveal what happened. But the NFL isn’t going to care about a story from nearly 15 years about two men who aren’t currently even in the league.
Fortunately, Ventrone would see game action throughout the year, recording his first tackle and even playing against the Steelers that October. He’d bounce around the Patriots’ practice squad the following year before being signed by Pittsburgh in 2013. In 2014 and 2015, he appeared in 15 games, making 10 tackles before a hamstring injury ended his career in 2016.
Were the Patriots’ tactics illegal? No, there was no explicit rule against that kind of roster manipulation. But Bill Belichick and the Patriots used every advantage they had, including bouncing Ventrone on and off the roster to maximize roster flexibility. And when needed, they asked Ventrone to go home, close the curtains, and order delivery.
