Ty Law has mostly raved about playing for Bill Belichick over the years, but there’s one thing he wants to clarify about his time with the New England Patriots.

During his appearance on Julian Edelman’s podcast Games With Names, the Pro Football Hall of Famer explained that the players should be credited for the creation of the “Patriot Way.”

“We understood that this is work, we got families but we made a conscious effort to do stuff not only as a DB group but we did stuff as a team and that’s when we started winning,” Law said. “We started seeing things change around, that’s what became the Patriot Way, even though like the coaches get credit and Belichick and Scott [Pioli], that’s bulls**t  the Patriot Way started in the locker room.”

Over the years, Belichick was largely viewed as the face of the “Patriot Way,” as the team was typically disciplined and focused on the “Do Your Job” mantra en route to winning six Super Bowl titles over 20 seasons. But Law was one of the leaders and arguably the best player on the Patriots for much of the stretch when they won their first three Super Bowls, earning three Pro Bowl nods during that stretch.

Competition was contagious at the Patriots facility. pic.twitter.com/AVc17BtVzk

— Games with Names (@gameswithnames) April 9, 2024

While Law provided clarification on the “Patriot Way,” Tom Brady recently dished a similar take on the mantra as well.

“I’ve never used that term in my entire life,” Brady said on the Pat McAfee Show in January. “I think when people say it, I’m always like, ‘What’s the Patriot Way? It sounds like the title of a book.’ I think what we tried to do was things the right way, I think we tried to practice the right way and prepare the right way. What happened on gameday was ultimately a reflection of what we practice.

“I thought we had great leadership from our coaches and it filtered down to the guys who really drove the culture.”

What Ty Law has said about former Patriots coach Bill Belichick in the past

Ty Law has praised his former ball coach in the past, even if he thinks he isn’t solely responsible for the “Patriot Way.” He told WEEI in January that he was “fortunate” to have Belichick as his coach during his career.

“He meant everything,” Law said. “One, he always held me accountable. That’s one thing about Coach Belichick, he’s always gonna put it to you straight. He wasn’t trying to have a buddy-buddy type of relationship. You had to earn those extra minutes or that extra time as far as him giving you the attention that you might want or need. He’s gonna do that hard-nosed coaching. I always appreciated that.”

Law also shared a story on Julian Edelman’s podcast on how the coach got him to take a pay cut to keep a friend of his on the team.

“That’s Bill being Bill. So we ended up working it out. I restructured,” Law said.