Patrick Chung Will Feel That Itch To Return To Patriots, But 'It's Time To Be A Daddy'
BOSTON (CBS) -- Patrick Chung is done with football, though the retired Patriots safety believes he'll be feeling that itch to return in a few months. It happens to just about every player when they step away, and Chung, 33, will soon have to figure out how best to scratch that itch.
"We'll see. Everyone has the itch, so we'll see how it goes," Chung told WBZ-TV's Steve Burton last week.
Football wasn't on Chung's mind last Monday, when he was teeing off in the A.J. Quetta Golf Invitational at the Cape Club in Sharon to raise funds for the Bishop Feehan hockey player who suffered a severe spinal cord injury in January.
"My time is helping people," Chung said of his retirement. "You know how I've always been -- helping people, be a good person."
And now he's added raising a child to the mix, which was the reason Chung was one of eight players to opt out of the 2020 NFL season amid COVID-19 concerns. So he has technically already been away from the game for a year already.
As for that itch, he's already felt it in some senses. But Chung maintains that he is happily retired.
"I do miss it. I miss football. I miss the locker room the most, being with coaches and teammates, having that brotherhood and the camaraderie," said Chung.
"I miss football, but now it's time to be a daddy," he added. "I'm OK with that job too."
Chung said he spent last season both yelling at the TV and being happy with what he saw on the TV. He has loads of faith in the 2021 New England Patriots, confident in any team that has Bill Belichick in charge.
"Last year is last year. This year, on paper, we have a good team," he said. "But we'll see when the Pats come on and go from there. Bill will always be the greatest coach, so he'll have them ready."
While Chung would have liked to have seen the Patriots succeed last season, he was happy to see Tom Brady win his seventh Super Bowl trophy -- this time as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Now, he's eagerly awaiting Week 4 of the 2021 season, when Brady, Rob Gronkowski and the Bucs come to Foxboro for the quarterback's first game ever against the Patriots.
"I'll be rooting for my Pats," said Chung. "I still love Tom and Gronk, but I gotta root for my boys."
