Peyton Manning Recalls How Bill Belichick Made His Ex-Boss Cough Up $1,000,000 By Inviting Player to Pro Bowl Out of Spite

Peyton Manning and his Manningcast have provided us with some great stories, including one about how Bill Belichick brought out his petty side. The Patriots head coach once invited Ravens LB Peter Boulware to the Pro Bowl, simply because it would mean his ex-boss Art Modell would have to pay the linebacker an extra $1 million. The move was done completely out of spite, and while it seems like Belichick would never engage in such petty behavior, the old coach was quite sly back in the day.

Before joining the New England Patriots, Belichick was the head coach for the Cleveland Browns. He then embarked on a journey to the New York Jets before eventually ending up as the head coach of the New England Patriots in 2000. From there, the rest is history. He joined forces with Tom Brady to form one of the greatest sporting dynasties of all time and ascend to legendary status. Before this success, Belichick had some hilarious spiteful energy in him though.

Peyton Manning reveals the spite Bill Belichick had to cost his ex-boss $1 million

In 2022, Manning got into some funny Belichick stories including the one where he got revenge on Art Modell through the Pro Bowl.

Modell was the owner of the Cleveland team, but he had bigger goals on his mind. He wanted to move the team out of Cleveland to Baltimore, change the name to the Ravens, and also fired Belichick.

Clearly, Belichick wanted to get revenge on Modell, and he got his chance in the 1998 Pro Bowl. Belichick was the assistant coach for the Jets, and he subbed in for Bill Parcells who declined to go to the Pro Bowl for health reasons.

At the time, AFC and NFC coaches could choose one “need player”, a player they felt they needed to be on the team. They could only choose a “need player” from a list of players who had been voted as the first alternate at linebacker or defensive end.

According to Manning, Belichick chose Boulware because he knew that it would trigger a clause in his contract that gave him a $1 million bonus, forcing Modell to pay up.

Manning said on the Manningcast, as per Pro Football Talk, “He picked Peter Boulware because he knew that Art Modell would have to pay Boulware a million-dollar bonus if Boulware made the Pro Bowl. Belichick hated Modell.”

Boulware was also surprised about the call-up. “I’m kind of shocked. I had really given up on the Pro Bowl,” Boulware explained to the Baltimore Sun. “I was just focusing on the off-season, working out, getting ready for next season. I had put the Pro Bowl out of my mind. I take this as a blessing. I take this humbly. I’m just thankful to go.”

Belichick has another funny Pro Bowl story

While this was a wild story, to begin with, there might be another Belichick Pro Bowl story that tops this. Peyton Manning had another classic story to tell on his Manningcast about Belichick’s Pro Bowl shenanigans.

Reportedly, he once invited long snapper David Binn to the Pro Bowl because he was dating Baywatch actress Pamela Anderson at the time, and he felt like players would like seeing her in the pools in Hawaii. When she didn’t come, Belichick was reportedly angry at Binn.

Classic Belichick.