Watchdog

"Bill Parcells came in that one day in the meeting room after Rick Mirer was like crap and he’s like me, a Jersey boy, and when you lose you take it home with you. There’s no way you can’t take it home. I’m the type of guy that if I lose in a pool game, I might break the cue.

"So Parcells would take it home with him. You’d see him the next day and you’d know he didn’t sleep. And he came in that day and I knew he was ---- off because the quarterbacks have to sit in the front row, which is terrible because you cross him you’ll probably get smashed.

"And he said, 'I’ll tell you what, you see that kid sitting in the front?' And I’m turning around like, 'Who the --- is he talking about?' And he’s pointing to me. And he says, 'That Lucas kid is playing quarterback. I don’t care if we lose the rest of these games. We’re staying with him. We’re riding with him. So you guys make your decision, you ride with him or we fold and pitch the tents up and he stays in the game. That’s the end of the story.'

"He walked out of the room. I went back downstairs and he had a box of Depends on my damn seat. So as much as he shocked me, he brought me back down where I wasn’t afraid. And he coached so good where the fact he made me the quarterback I knew he believed I could do it, which is all I needed because I already knew I could do it.

"When you have nothing to lose and everything to gain, I just let it go. It’s a different scenario when you have to prove yourself. Clemens was drafted and he’s supposed to be the future and what he did in Baltimore there’s a lot more friggin' pressure.''