Watch: Moment When Belichick Called Jarrett Stidham To Tell QB Patriots Are Drafting Him

Receiving a call from Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is the dream of every NFL prospects. Many football players hoped to get that call during the NFL Draft, and Jarrett Stidham was one of them.

The Patriots shared a video of the room when they decided to select Stidham. Belichick called the quarterback to give him the good news.

Stidham was great in 2017, and he would have been a first-round pick. But, he regressed in 2018, and had his own reasons to make such move. The newly acquired quarterback talked about his reasons during the conference call with media members.

“I think there’s different things that happen throughout the season, and I think myself, Coach (Gus) Malzahn, Coach (Chip) Lindsey, if we were all to kind of look back and go back and read through the season, I think we’d just open it up a lot more,” Stidham said. “When you lose a guy like (running back) Kerryon Johnson and (guard) Braden Smith up front, some of those guys that have a lot of experience, you just have to find out your identity.

“And I think we found our identity during our bowl game against Purdue. It’s one of those things, but I wouldn’t trade my time at Auburn for anything. I loved it there, and the great thing about Auburn is that it can really help prepare you for the next level. And sure enough, I’m lucky enough to sit here and be a Patriot and further my career a little bit.”

“I told Coach (Josh) McDaniels and Coach (Bill) Belichick, there were definitely times last year where for whatever reason, I just decided to get out of the pocket when I shouldn’t have or just didn’t trust my eyes at a certain point or my feet,” Stidham said. “That’s something I’ve obviously been working on this spring up to the draft and it’s something I’m going to have to continue to work at in order to get better at the quarterback position. I’m really looking forward to doing that, and there’s no one better to learn from than Coach McDaniels and Coach Belichick and those guys in the quarterback room.”

The New England Patriots rely on Tom Brady, Brian Hoyer, Danny Etling and Stidham.