There's a very short list of things worse than being late to a Bill Belichick team meeting. For Rich Ohrnberger, car accidents aren't on that list.
The New England Patriots' fourth-round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, Ohrnberger found himself in the dreaded position of sleeping past his alarm during his rookie season and realizing he couldn't make a team meeting on time.
So, the young offensive lineman did what any rational person would do: He intentionally got into a car accident so he'd have an excuse for being late.
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Curran: Why the heck did Patriots have to change their offense anyway?
Wait ... seriously?
That's what Ohrnberger claimed in a crazy story he told Thursday on "The Hartman And Rich O Show" on San Diego's XTRA1360. Take it away, Rich:
@hartmanandricho What would you do if you were late for a #Patriots team meating??? #NFL #Trending #TrainingCamp #ForYouPage #ForYou #FYP @richohrnberger @New England Patriots ♬ original sound - HartmanAndRichO
New England Patriots
A written recap doesn't do this wild story justice, but the gist is that Ohrnberger supposedly woke up late, saw he wasn't going to arrive to Gillette Stadium on time and decided to purposefully rear-end a beat-up van so he could have a reason for his tardiness.
That seems like a ridiculously reckless decision, but as Ohrnberger explained, he literally thought the Patriots would cut him if he showed up late to one team meeting. So, he made the calculus that intentionally crashing his car and paying for minor repairs was better than facing the wrath of Belichick and likely losing his job.
Ohrnberger suggested that offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia was onto his elaborate plan, but apparently it worked: Ohrnberger kept his job and spent a total of three seasons in New England en route to a six-year NFL career.
We wouldn't recommend this strategy to any current Patriots rookie running a few minutes late to a team meeting, but if you need evidence for how tight of a ship Belichick runs in Foxboro, this story certainly provides it.