Vince Wilfork Helped Sell Terrance Knighton On Patriots
BOSTON (CBS) -- As a free agent, Terrance Knighton had a few options when deciding where to play his football in the fall of 2016. Yet according to the man known as "Pot Roast," it was a former Patriots legend who helped seal the deal with New England.
"Speaking with a few ex-players, I had a long talk with Vince Wilfork obviously before signing," Knighton said Wednesday on a conference call. "He was telling me that it's a grind but at the end of the day it's football. It's a good environment to be around, it's a good building to be in, and he had nothing but good things to say about the organization."
It's no surprise that Wilfork has fond memories of the team that drafted him and employed him for a decade, a career bookended by Super Bowls in 2004 and 2014. Now a member of Bill O'Brien's Houston Texans, it is surprising that he might make a recruiting pitch for his former team.
Yet, as it turns out, Knighton's appreciation of Wilfork goes back a long way.
"I think when you're born in Connecticut I think at birth you have a choice – either Yankees or Red Sox – and I chose to go with Boston. I'm a big Boston Celtics fan, Red Sox, Bruins, obviously Patriot fan growing up," the 29-year-old Knighton said. "Towards high school and college is when I really started paying attention to players, and obviously being a big fan of guys like Vince Wilfork, Willie McGinest, Tedy Bruschi, and just those leaders on defense and guys that won games and won Super Bowls – the Rodney Harrisons – just the guys that were great leaders on and off the field and were role models for me growing up and guys that I modeled myself after on the field like a Vince Wilfork."
For as much admiration as Knighton has for Wilfork, he's not looking to replace the void that big No. 75 left a year ago.
"Obviously, big shoes to fill and me being a big guy and playing nose tackle, people will look for me to be like a Wilfork replacement but I'm not thinking about that," Knighton said. "I'm just going to come in and work hard every day and just try to create my own niche in the organization."
