Bill Belichick Surprises Northwestern State Defensive Tackle at NFL Combine

On the list of situations NFL Combine participants might stress about, getting grilled by Bill Belichick certainly has to rank towards the top. But for Northwestern State defensive tackle Deon Simon, a meeting with the Patriots head coach turned out to be one of the highlights of his weekend.

NFL.com has had Deon Simon and Michigan State wide receiver keep journal entries about their respective weekends at the 2015 Combine, and Simon started his performance with an exclamation point by finishing #1 in the D-linemen group on the bench press by crushing an impressive 35 reps. That figure was also the third highest total for bench press reps for the 2015 Combine among all position groups. Only 14 men in the history of the combine have ever broken 40 reps.

For comparison purposes, that’s equivalent to a 6-foot-4, 332-pound man walking into your local YMCA, going to the bench press, putting two 45-lb weights on both sides of a 45-lb bar, and then bench-pressing that 35 times. Not too shabby.

The biggest surprise of Deon’s day, though, came when he went to meet with the New England Patriots and expected to see a scout or position coach, and instead…well, take it away, Deon:

“I didn’t exactly think Bill Belichick was going to be there. But when I walked in the door, he was sitting right behind the door and he stood up and he shook my hand.

It felt unreal, I mean, you always see him on television and I mean — that’s Bill Belichick! To have the opportunity to be in the same room with him and in the same presence, it was really exciting. I was just trying to hold my composure.

It was on Saturday night. He was asking me about my background, personal stuff, but in the back of my mind, all I’m thinking is, man, that’s Bill Belichick.

There were a few people in there, Bill and six others from his staff. In most of my meetings, the technical questions were mostly the same. They would set up a base defense and ask me where to line up. They’d show me an under look, a 3-4 defense, a 4-3 defense, just trying to read the offense. They’d ask me to read the opposing offense — 21 personnel, 10 personnel, the base fronts.

It was just an amazing experience, something I’m never going to forget.

The combine is funny like that. In other meetings — I had about 15 total — coaches will give you a minute and ask you how many different ways you can use a paper clip. I forgot what shape it was, but someone asked me how many times can fold it. With the paper clip, I just said holding paper together (laughs). Maybe you could take it loose and do something else with it. It was tricky.

But it’s great to be home in Louisiana to let it all sink in. I’m waiting on my agents to do some research on a training facility back home and I’m looking forward to my Pro Day coming up on March 24. Now it’s just about waiting out the process.”

The Patriots’ long-time nose tackle Vince Wilfork turns 34 in November, and with the last year’s first-round pick Dominique Easley not quite panning out as well as many hoped (yet), maybe Deon Simon is on Belichick’s radar to hold down the fort on the d-line once Big Vince hangs up his cleats.

If the value is right, of course.