By Danny Picard
CSNNE.com Staff ReporterFollow @dannypicard
FOXBORO -- According to the man himself, his name is now Albert thePatriot.
Hes New Englands newest defensive lineman, and he comeswith plenty of luggage. Only, according to him, now that hes a Patriot thatluggage is all in the past.
Tuesday marked Haynesworths second day of practice with theteam at Gillette Stadium. Afterwards, he spoke with the media for the firsttime since being acquired by New England in a trade with the WashingtonRedskins late last week.
And it didnt take him long to buy into The Patriot Way.
Everything is in the past, said Haynesworth. Im leavingall that stuff back in Washington. Right now, Im just concentrating on beingjust a great football player for this organization.
Haynesworth said hes always been a fan of Bill Belichickand the entire Patriots organization. So much so, that he took a ticket fromRodney Harrison, and was present at Gillette Stadium for the 2007 AFCChampionship game against the San Diego Chargers.
New England Patriots
He also said hes secretly made a bunch of trips to NewEngland in the past, because his best friend is a New England native. His lovefor the area and the organization has him excited for a fresh start to showthat he can still play football.
A new team, a great organization, said Haynesworth. Ivebeen a fan of this team for a long time, when I wasnt playing them. But Ivealways liked the Patriots.
Ive always liked Coach Belichick, just the way he didthings, the way his teams performed. From being outside, just the way hehandled the team and everything. And now being inside, hes very detailoriented, and he demands perfection every time.
Ive been on some really good teams, with a lot of greatplayers, but Ive never been in a situation where its like, perfection everytime, added Haynesworth. Not for a person, but for a team.
Haynesworth first found out about the trade as a textmessage from his agent woke him up. His reaction?
Hell, yeah, said Haynesworth.
Its a move he originally talked with Vince Wilfork aboutseveral years ago at the Pro Bowl, and a move that he once again talked to hisagent about before he was actually traded out of Washington. He just neverthought the numbers would match up.
I went to the Pro Bowl with Vince, said Haynesworth. Andthe funny thing is, when we were at the Pro Bowl, I said, Man, what if we wereon the same team? He said, That would be crazy, but no way thats going tohappen.
But two or three years later, here we are.
Haynesworth was adamant that he leave his luggage in thepast, or at least, in Washington.
Hes now focused on getting his legs back underneath him,and eventually thriving under his current role on New Englands defensive line,which he somewhat jokingly said, is to just kill the quarterback.
The Patriots hope he can be a dominant force on thedefensive line, especially while working next to Wilfork.
Thats gonna be scary, said Haynesworth, when asked aboutlining up next to each other. Thats gonna be scary for other teams.
Good for Haynesworth to point out that his presence on NewEnglands defensive line will be scary for other teams and not their own.Because it sure sounds like Haynesworth has something to prove.
Its going to be awesome, he said. I enjoy being here.Its a refresher and I love it. Its kind of revived me, playing footballagain.
That was Belichicks plan all along.
Danny Picard is on twitter at http:twitter.comDannyPicard.