Former Patriots running back Stevan Ridley hasn’t forgotten about his welcome from Bill Belichick when New England selected him in the third round of the 2011 NFL Draft.
During an appearance on the “Games With Names” podcast, Ridley recalled the ex-Patriots coach putting him in “fat camp” because “I was overweight” as an NFL running back.
“I guess we’ll start with how Bill put me in fat camp,” Ridley told host Julian Edelman, a former Patriots wideout and his teammate from 2011-2014 in New England — adding that Belichick wanted him to lose nearly 20 pounds after his LSU tenure.
“You have that meeting where you come in there and you’re a rookie and he gives you your playing weight and he brought me into the office because I go into the weight room and [former Patriots strength coach Harold] Nash said, ‘Hop on the scale, Ridley.’ I hopped on the scale and I’m about 235-238 pounds. I played at LSU around 230 as a running back — eight pounds is a lot, bro.
“… I think I was tipping that thing between 235 and 240 pounds… I’m a big back. Hey, I obviously did something right because coach, you drafted me, you like what you saw.”
Ridley recalled Nash telling him “you got some work to do” to meet Belichick’s demand of 220 pounds.
“How? I said, ‘You’re tripping, bro.’ I said nah,” Ridley recalled. “[Nash] said ‘don’t ask me, I’m telling you what the boss man said.'”
Ridley said he then went to Belichick’s office to meet with him.
“I’m not really as scared… I’m naive… I’ll go to talk to Bill,” Ridley said, laughing. “… I walked in and said coach I need to talk to you about this weight… and I’m just making sure this is the right weight.
“… I said [220] is impossible…I’ll bust my ass and do whatever, but can I just tell you a little something about me… I pulled out my driver’s license.
Ridley explained that “I was 5-foot-11 and 220 pounds” since he got his driver’s license and this permit.
“He kinda smacked his lips and said, ‘well Rid, I mean, really I think it’s only about $563 per pound, per day that you’re overweight so it’s really up to you.
“… He was like, ‘per pound, per day, and he doubled down on it.
Ridley said he agreed to go to “fat camp” because “I ain’t got money like that” at the time.
Ridley explained that it required him to change his diet with help of a nutritionist and run before practice, along with other structure and discipline in his training. He added that he was happy he “got on board” with the program because he was “quick as a cat” after it.
“You get to New England and of course you’re going in there and it’s Bill Belichick — Bill is intimidating,” he said of now-UNC football coach. “You gotta give it to him. He knows what he’s doing, he has a system in place. You don’t mess with him. You respect him.”
Ridley had 1,263 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns in 2013.
Ridley was part of the Patriots team that beat the Seahawks in the Super Bowl in the 2014 season, despite suffering a season-ending knee injury in October.
The Patriots opted not to bring back Ridley during free agency in 2015. He signed with the Jets and briefly spent time with the Lions, Colts, Falcons, Broncos, Vikings and the Steelers.
He retired after playing the 2018 season with the Steelers.