FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Willie McGinest will be inducted into the New England Patriots Hall of Fame on Wednesday, and head coach Bill Belichick reminisced about his career with the team (1994-2005), capturing what he felt made him special.
"Nobody would mess with Willie. Nobody," Belichick said. "In the time that I've been here, if there was one player, I would put him up there as the guy that nobody ... you just don't want to cross him. If it got to that point, it's better to back off than to get into it with him. He was very well respected."
Belichick also reflected on how McGinest "killed the Colts" and said he had a similarity to Lawrence Taylor in that he "had a little bit of extra gas in his tank for the critical plays in the game."
Belichick noted McGinest's competitive streak and called him a "great example for younger players," saying he had a nice balance of being able to talk to a teammate but also lead by example.
"Tough, team-oriented, winning was really important to him; winning more than personal stats. He took losing hard, which I think is a good thing," he said.
Overall, Belichick called McGinest's career "outstanding" and recapped how he had scouted McGinest at Southern Cal in 1994. Belichick recalled how McGinest played various positions and it was easy to see his versatility, athleticism, toughness and playmaking skills.
At the same time, McGinest was a challenging evaluation from a scouting standpoint because he was "doing something different every week."
McGinest is already in town and is expected to meet with reporters a bit later.
