Brandon Bolden Right Back At Home With The Patriots
BOSTON (CBS) -- After a year with the Miami Dolphins, Brandon Bolden is back with the New England Patriots. The special teamer couldn't contain his excitement when talking about the reunion at Gillette Stadium on Thursday.
Bolden was cut by the Patriots last summer, and never thought he'd call One Patriots Place his home again. He had a forgettable -- but enjoyable -- season with the Dolphins, mostly thanks to the wonderful weather in South Beach. But when his contract expired with the Dolphins, he wasn't sure what the future held for him.
Then his phone rang, and much to his amazement, it was the New England Patriots. They wanted him back.
"I was very surprised. It was actually funny, the day before, my wife asked me, she was like, 'Would you want to go back?' And I was like, 'I mean, it would be easy. I know the system. I know everybody there. Even with the coaches leaving, I still know everybody there.' And sure enough, the next day, I got a phone call," Bolden said Thursday. "It was great. I'm happy to be back, excited to get back to work.
"I missed this place," Bolden added. "It's like home."
Bolden dropped the home line a dozen or so times on Thursday, and it's easy to understand why. Even though he was gone for a year, nothing really changed in the locker room. He returned the same locker with all of his old stuff in it, including the boom box he'd blast tunes from with his teammates. It was going full blast Thursday, just like old times.
"It's like I grew up in this hometown my entire life, I went off to college for a few years and now I'm back home, and everything is still the way I left it," he said. "So it's pretty good."
Bolden did enjoy his year in Miami, despite the lack of success from the Dolphins. But one thing was very clear from the get-go: It was not New England.
"The grass always isn't greener on the other side," Bolden added. "You kind of step out; you always hear stories of people coming here, 'Yeah, we did this there and we did this.' But we do this all one way. And I had my mindset going down [to Miami] that I was going to keep everything the same, and we clashed on a lot of things. We talked about a lot of things.
"But here, stuff works for a reason," said Bolden. "And that's why I said -- I'm going to keep saying it -- this is home. I can't help it."
About the only good that came from Bolden's tenure in Miami was a two-touchdown game against the Patriots, part of the Dolphins' "Miracle In Miami" victory. He knows better than to bring that up now that he's back in New England.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Bolden joked. "I legit don't talk about it."
