Mike Vrabel is standing on the cusp of achieving the one thing he has chased throughout his coaching career. A winner of three Super Bowls as a player, the New England Patriots head coach is a win away from lifting the Lombardi Trophy as the man in charge. If his team pulls it off, his own words from years ago suggest the celebration could come with an unusual sacrifice.
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Former Titans star Taylor Lewan, who knows Vrabel better than most in the football world, reminded him of the sacrifice. During a light-hearted exchange on Media Day, the Bussin’ With The Boys host brought up the ‘promise’ that has shadowed Vrabel since he made it in 2019.
Vrabel, who was the head coach of the Tennessee Titans at the time, made headlines by joking that he would be willing to cut his genitals off if it guaranteed a Super Bowl win. The comment came during an appearance on Lewan’s podcast. Vrabel even dragged his marriage into the conversation.
“Been married 20 years. Yeah, probably [I can cut it off],” Vrabel told Lewan back then. The Titans fell short that year, losing the AFC Championship Game to the Chiefs.
Fast forward to the Super Bowl Media Day on Monday, Lewan wasted no time bringing that old promise back into the spotlight. “In 2019, you were on a podcast, and you mentioned that you would take away one of your appendages if you were able to win a Super Bowl,” Lewan told Vrabel, that too in a room full of people.
The podcaster then added the twist of the knife. He asked whether Vrabel was now ready to become the first head coach to go under anaesthesia after winning the Super Bowl. That’s when the Pats coach delivered the now-viral line. “I don’t need anaesthesia,” he replied, without missing a beat.
The entire room erupted. Even Lewan, laughing and clearly impressed, leaned into the absurdity. “Oh, like a goat, put a rubber band around it,” he joked, before adding, “We love you, Mike.”
Vrabel, matching the same energy, closed the hilarious exchange with a softer note: “I miss you, guys.”
Coach Vrabel: “I don’t need anesthesia” pic.twitter.com/TYl2r390Rb
— Bussin’ With The Boys (@BussinWTB) February 3, 2026
While this conversation may sound absurd, those close to Vrabel won’t be surprised by this. If the Patriots locker room is to be believed, their head coach has built a reputation to see-saw between serious football talk and silly jokes seamlessly.
“He’s just got so many one-liners… He’s the best I’ve ever seen at it. He really is,” said outside linebackers coach Mike Smith. “Vrabes says some wild stuff,” Hunter Henry added.
Vrabel’s one-liners are so catchy that Patriots quarterbacks coach Ashton Grant has started listing down some of them on his iPhone. Grant even read one of the entries from his list: “There are two places you can stay for free: In your lane and out of my business.”
The most hilarious revelation, however, came from coach Mike Smith, who shared Vrabel’s enthusiasm for “football porn”… Plays that are physical and technically perfect.
“He showed us one the other day of this guard pulling, and the guard just ran right over a linebacker,” Smith said. “And [Vrabel’s] like, ‘That’s football porn, boys! Hell, we could watch this 10 times.’”
Vrabel seems to have managed to win over both the locker room and the results with New England. Well, that’s exactly what it takes to build a title-winning team.
