Kyle Van Noy Hopes He Can Take Cam Newton Out To Dinner, Settling Last Year's Trash Talk
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- On Wednesday, Kyle Van Noy made it pretty clear that he's not happy with the way his time in Miami ended. He also seemed quite pleased to be back in New England, saying "it means a lot" to have "one of the greatest, if not the greatest coach in the game" select him to be on the roster.
That being said, Van Noy's New England reunion will also involve some fence-mending.
After the Patriots beat Miami in Week 1 last year, a bit of a scuffle broke out on the field in the final moments, with Cam Newton at the center of it all. Never one to shy away from anything, Van Noy got involved and ended up getting in Newton's face.
During his video conference call with the Patriots media on Wednesday, Van Noy of course had to answer a question or two about that mini-altercation and his comments from later in the season. After the Dolphins repaid the favor with a win over the Patriots, Van Noy did a bit of dancing on the Patriots' graves by declaring "the honeymoon's over." Clearly, that Week 1 celebration still irked him at the time, and he let it be known.
So, will he have to reach out to his new teammates -- and Newton especially -- to repair some relationships?
"Of course, of course," Van Noy said. "I want to talk to Cam. I mean I feel like me and Cam have a similar mindset, and that's to win, and I'm excited to work with him. I've heard nothing but good things. I think everybody's gonna be excited after, hopefully, we have dinner and I'll pay for it, [laughs], and just get to know each other better. I think it's, it is a, it's a good rivalry, everybody knows everybody, people playing on both sides, so it's gonna be good."
Van Noy thinks the attention placed on his comments -- and the Dolphins' little tussle at the end of the Patriots' Week 1 win -- got blown out of proportion.
"I mean, it's part of football. I think everybody blows it out of proportion when there's trash talking in football," he said. "It's part of the game. Some players are better than others. Some have terrible jokes, some have good ones, some can get under your skin, some can't. It's part of the game and I think, you know, it's, it's ... yeah, it's part of the game. I don't I don't think anyone takes it personally. If they do, then that's their deal."
After settling old scores and firing up new ones, Van Noy figures to be an important part of the Patriots' linebacking corps, which will feature three players -- himself, Dont'a Hightower, and Matt Judon -- who weren't on the team a year ago.
