Image courtesy of New England Patriots
The only thing Patriots fans really know about Chris Board is that he makes a significant amount of money to play special teams.
Around here, that usually means you draw more criticism than praise unless your impact is glaring. No. 45 doesn’t get mentioned much on the TV broadcast (aside from the penalty last week that negated a 76 yard punt), but his impact on and off the field has been felt by his teammates.
One teammate in particular – Mr. Special Teams Matt Slater – recently spoke to me about Board’s impact on the team, even if fans don’t necessarily understand his worth.
“Absolutely,” Slater said when asked if Board’s contributions go under appreciated. “What he does in the return game, how he eats up double teams, things that might not show up statistically, they’re not sexy, but if you’re going to be good you need them. He does that with a high level of consistency and I think he does it as well as anybody with his skillset in the league.”
Board has been in the NFL for six years now with stops in Baltimore, Detroit and New England. Since arriving here, he’s been a quiet leader and a valuable resource for some of the younger guys, something he takes pride in. He’s also learned quite a bit from No. 18 as well.
“Everything’s been good. I’ve just come in and embraced whatever role I’ve been given,” said Board. “As far as learning from Slater, he’s one of the best leaders I’ve ever been around. The way he comes in and executes every day, he’s definitely a good role model and I appreciate him and the time I’ve had with him.”
While the Patriots special teams unit hasn’t been up to par the last few seasons considering how buttoned up that part of the game had been under Bill Belichick for 20+ years, Board says he’s still learned a lot of nuances from Belichick and other coaches on the staff.
“Yeah, there’s little techniques and different things I’ve picked up while I was here,” Board added. “I’ve been in the league for a minute, so I’ve kind of played for a while, but I’ve definitely picked up some new things here as well…playing for Coach Belichick has been about what I expected. Especially with situational football, he emphasizes it a lot which is different (than what I’ve been around) and very key to this game. It’s probably the one thing that definitely stands out that coach implements that I’ve learned from.”
Speaking of learning new things, with Slater out last week, Board was thrust into a gunner role, something he had never done before and found out late in the week he’d be doing.
“Man, that was very different man, first time ever in my career doing that in my career,” he said with a laugh. “So, it was definitely a learning experience, but it was fun to go out and compete against some of the best out there. It was definitely different for sure.”
Even after reading this, fans probably still won’t really appreciate the value Board brings to the team because of his contract. But, his teammates do and that’s ultimately all that matters at the end of the day.
“It’s hard to really articulate, he’s meant a lot to us,” added Slater. “You talk about…first of all, his role on the football field, just his physical presence. He brings a level of physicality and edge to our group. he’s able to run. He’s really a matchup nightmare. You saw last week when I wasn’t out there, he’s playing gunner at 240 lbs. Like, there just aren’t a lot of guys that have the ability to do that. He really provides you with a lot of position flexibility, the physicality and the ability to run…it’s really a rare, rare combination.
“In the locker room, the way I’d describe him is a consummate professional. He’s on it. He knows our game plan inside and out. He’s got a level of experience in the league that I think is invaluable to the younger group. He brings that experience. He’s been a huge, huge addition to this football team.”
We know what his teammates think of him, but what does Board want fans to know about him, even if they haven’t heard his name very often?
“What I want fans to know is I’m someone that works hard that’s given it all I’ve had to help us win games,” he said. “Unfortunately, we haven’t won as many as we would have liked, but I’ve definitely worked to try and contribute leadership wise or just play wise as much as I can every single week.”