New England Patriots

Day Two: Crushed Go-Pro, Salad Guy, Gastric Bypass

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 9:13 p.m. ET

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Sports Illustrated, Kalyn Kahler/Sports Illustrated via MMQB

The MMQB is back on the road for the Super Bowl. Our writers and video team are driving to Houston for Super Bowl 51, along the way doing stories, videos and social content on the Patriots and Falcons and catching the spirit of the biggest sporting event in America through our eyes. Follow our #RoadtoHouston on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat (@TheMMQB). Find all of our road trip stories here.

ANNAPOLIS TO WILLIAMSBURG— Tuesday in Annapolis saw sun and clear skies, a glorious reprieve from Monday’s gloomy Nor’easter. We piled into our monster vehicle to head to our main stop of the day, the U.S. Naval Academy, where Bill Belichick’s father, Steve, was a scout and coach, and where Bill’s collection of football books is housed. Navy SID Scott Strasemeier picked us up at the stadium to bring us past the Naval Academy gates and into the athletic building, Ricketts Hall.

MILEMARKER: 262

Scott showed us to the Belichick library on the third floor and unlocked the glass cabinets so we could enjoy the amazing smell of old books! Wait… is that just me? Sorry, I’m a nerd like that. We paged through a few of the 400-some books, looking for inscriptions or notes in the margins. Jenny, who has actually written THE book on the Belichick library herself, picked up Steve Belichick’s famous work, Football Scouting Methods. Just some light reading to start the morning off right.

After we had absorbed as much Belichickian knowledge as our brains could handle, we headed back to the hotel to pick up Tim Rohan, who had slept in ALL MORNING! Just kidding. Tim was diligently making calls to an expert on the Revolutionary War ... (just a hint about something we may or may not be up to on Day Three). Five minutes into our drive back to the hotel I noticed something bounce of our windshield. Videographer John DePetro, sitting in the passenger seat, gasped loudly and grabbed his head in both hands.That small object that bounced off our windshield was John’s GoPro camera, which he’d left on the hood of the car, where it was recording video when we were parked at Navy’s Memorial Stadium. I pulled over immediately and John jumped out of the car to track down the camera and save it from being crushed under the tires of an oncoming vehicle. He bravely dodged vehicle after the vehicle to retrieve his poor GoPro. He did not return empty handed, but his camera was shattered.

The GoPro was actually the second casualty on the road to Houston. The first was poor bobblehead Peter, who tumbled headfirst out of the van and suffered a clean break at the neck and shoulder. Please, follow along as we break more valuable objects in the next week.

Lunch was at Middleton’s Tavern, a historic spot in Annapolis’ Market Square. Rumor has it that the Treaty of Paris was signed there. Once we sat down, our gluten-free gal Jenny asked about a salad menu, to which the waiter replied that it had been a very slow day, so the kitchen had sent the Salad Guy home.

And unlike our team of multimedia journalists who can easily adapt on the fly to write, shoot video, take photos, Facebook live, or buy a new GoPro at Target, no one else at Middleton’s Tavern was able to arrange a few leaves on a plate. With Jenny unable to eat anything else on the menu, we left in search of a Salad Guy in Annapolis who was actually on the clock and ended up down the street at the Iron Rooster. Tim and I both ordered the chicken and waffles, their most popular dish and we were not disappointed.

On our way out of Annapolis, car talk turned to Colin’s video work as a freelancer. He’s shot many reality TV shows, including one of Jenny’s favorites, TLC’s My 600-Lb Life. I'll spare you the raw details but we were all fascinated to hear Colin's description of what it's like to shoot a gastric bypass surgery for 12 hours straight. He also told a few tales from his stint with Deion Sanders’ short-lived reality show, Deion & Pilar: Prime Time Love. And we thought our jobs at The MMQB were interesting…

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Next stop is another colonial town, Williamsburg, to visit the College of William & Mary and explore the coaching roots of Dan Quinn. Stay with us and maybe you’ll see Tim dress up in Revolutionary War garb and join a reenactment. Maybe.

Got a story idea or suggested stop for The MMQB’s Road to Houston trip? Email us at talkback@themmqb.com.

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