Cassius Marsh Says Patriots 'Treat Players Like Crap,' Bill Belichick Holds Boring Team Meetings
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- At this point, Cassius Marsh might have spent more time speaking about the Patriots than he actually spent on the Patriots. Nevertheless, it's working out for him from a visibility standpoint.
Marsh, who played nine games for the Patriots in 2017 before getting waived, spoke about his brief tenure in New England on the "2 Bears, 1 Cave" podcast with Tom Segura. The 29-year-old -- who's now on the Steelers, his seventh NFL team -- once again reflected on his Patriots tenure with a lot of negativity.
"The Patriot Way is pretty, it's extremely impressive. Like, they work day in and day out, their work ethic over there, what they instill is pretty legendary. But they also treat players like crap," Marsh stated.
Marsh's first thought to explain this assertion: no lunchtime for players.
"They don't, you don't have like -- you don't have a lunch, period," Marsh said. "You get there and you have to make time to eat in between meetings. And they're like 5-10 minute periods where I would literally go scoop food and put in in a cup and like just crush it real quick before I got to the next meeting. It's just like there's no ... no B.S. There's no fun."
(The podcast is on YouTube, though be warned: there is some foul language.)
At that point, Marsh caught himself, noting that he "got in trouble" a few years back for saying that the Patriots have no fun. In this interview, though, Marsh said that Patriots players have thanked him privately for saying what he said publicly.
"Here's the thing. Like, over there, nobody says anything publicly, because they've won so many championships. So you don't want to upset the fan base, because after you win a Super Bowl, you can get paid for signings in New England for the rest of your life, because you're a Super Bowl champ," Marsh said. "So it was funny like when I did that article, a lot of the players like thanked me for like making it public on how bad they treat guys."
Marsh also said that remaining on Bill Belichick's good side is quite important for any Patriot.
"If you piss off Bill, you're done," he said.
A report in 2018 said that Marsh had a locker room "tirade" over playing time in the 2017 season, leading to his rushed departure from the team.
In the podcast interview, Marsh suggested he didn't really enjoy sitting in Belichick's daily meetings.
"Dude, OK. So [laughing]. Yo, so, imagine like, oh man ... imagine you're working like a 9 to 5, and like, everybody's at like a team meeting, right? And it's almost in like a school assembly, OK? And the dude who walks in is like the CEO and he's like an old dude who you know just plays no games. So like when he walks in, it's dead quiet. Like ... everything stops. All phones get put away. All laughter, any type of little chit-chat, done. K? Nobody plays around with Bill. I mean ... nobody plays with Bill for the most part," Marsh said. "So he walks in there and then he comes up to like a podium and he addresses the team for like 45 minutes to an hour every morning. He talks about the GM's history, talks about the team's history, talks about defensive, offensive coordinator's history, the way that they used to run their defense, the way that they run their defense now, the history of all of the coaches."
Marsh added sarcastically: "Super, super exciting to listen to him talk. Yeah."
Marsh did say that he respects Belichick, who is "an extremely intelligent coach," which was very nice of him to say about the six-time Super Bowl champion head coach.
However, Marsh said he much preferred the style of Pete Carroll in Seattle.
"I also came from Seattle, which is like, fun, family, we shoot hoops before every meeting and it's a competition every day," Marsh said. "We're riding scooters from meeting to meeting. Super fun, family, college vibes."
The Seahawks traded Marsh to New England in 2017, and then released him again in 2019, when he tried to make the team for a second time. Since then, he's played for Arizona, Jacksonville, and Indianapolis. He signed with Pittsburgh last December, but has yet to play for the Steelers.
He seemed to revel a bit in being "probably one of the most-hated former Patriots" based on his previous comments, so he probably won't mind getting a ride on the news cycle again in New England for bashing the Patriots. Given that it's the dead time of the sports calendar, he may get some play. This story right here is certainly contributing to that phenomenon.
But in the meanwhile, let's just hope that Marsh's summer is full of lunch breaks and scooter rides. That's really what NFL football should be all about.
