Matt Light was one of the best offensive linemen to ever suit up for the New England Patriots and played a key role in building their first dynasty. A three-time Pro Bowler, Light was all business on the field—but off it, he was a jokester, party guy, and outdoorsman who loved hunting and pulling off harmless pranks.
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Despite the serious nature of the Super Bowl, Light couldn’t resist the urge to have a little fun. He played in four of them and won three, yet even during the biggest games of his career, he had mischief on his mind.
As he revealed on an episode of Games with Names, he used to steal Super Bowl memorabilia—banners from stadiums, hotel decorations, and anything he could get his hands on.
“I couldn’t help myself,” he admitted. The souvenirs were his own personal collection of prank trophies.
“Is there a statute of limitations? I’m not going to jail on your podcast. Some of my favorite stuff that I have hanging now, and we just moved to Chapachid, Rhode Island, and in the move, I found some stuff I ganked from Super Bowls. I would rip down all these banners. I remember just jumping up and running, wadding it up and throwing it. When I got to the hotel, I couldn’t stop myself there either. They be hanging high on a big atrium and I’d find my way up in there.”
But the hijinks weren’t limited to the Super Bowl stage. During his time with the Patriots, no one was safe from Light’s antics—not teammates, not coaches, and not even team owner Robert Kraft.
One of his most legendary pranks targeted Bill Belichick himself. Light once swapped the coach’s regular computer mouse with a shocking one—the kind that delivers a jolt when clicked. Belichick was furious and, in classic fashion, took it out on the entire team with an extra-tough training camp. He stayed mad at Light for a month, forcing the lineman to make up for it by running extra drills at practice.
Even Tom Brady wasn’t spared. Light once filled Brady’s car entirely with packing peanuts. Unfortunately for Light, he didn’t get the reaction he was hoping for, because instead of cleaning it up himself, Brady just paid stadium staff to take care of it.
Light also had a long-running prank going with Patriots offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia. He replaced the coach’s mouse with one that had a timer programmed to randomly move the cursor in the wrong direction. The prank lasted 10 weeks. Every time Scarnecchia grew frustrated and went to call IT, Light would sneak in and switch the faulty mouse with a normal one. The coach started thinking the IT department was either incompetent or messing with him on purpose. He was genuinely losing his mind.
Matt Light might have been a serious contributor to the Patriots’ success, but off the field, he brought a different kind of energy—one filled with humor, mischief, and legendary pranks that his teammates will never forget.
