New England Patriots
“They always say the grass is greener on the other side. New England brought me in, and they watered me. They let me grow.”
A key member of the Patriots’ defense under Bill Belichick in the late 2010s and early 2020s called it a career Friday.
Lawrence Guy, a defensive lineman who helped New England defeat the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII, signed a one-day contract to retire as a Patriot at the team’s facility in front of his family.
Guy played for New England from 2017-2023 and held a crucial role in the trenches through the end of the Patriots’ dynasty era.
“I want to thank the Patriots organization and [Robert Kraft], it’s a full circle moment,” Guy said. “I wanted to [retire] in New England because New England was my home.”
Emotional at times, Guy explained how special it was to not only play for the Patriots, but also to be a part of the family-like atmosphere in Foxborough.
“They always say the grass is greener on the other side. New England brought me in and they watered me. They let me grow. They made sure I was gonna be where I needed to be,” he said. “The Patriots care about their players, they care about their alums, they care about the people that are in this building because once you’ve entered this building, you have become a family of a unique organization that looks at you not just as a person, but looks at you as a human being.”
In the same vein, Guy discussed how different it is to play in New England compared to other NFL organizations. Prior to joining the Patriots, he played for the Colts, Chargers, and Ravens. Guy played for the Bengals in his final season in 2024.
“I’ve been through different teams. There is no other organization similar to the organization that is here,” he said. “There are certain teams that have history, but nobody has a team that’s like this organization. They’re gonna help you and grow you not (only) on the field, but off the field. And that’s what you really want when you go to an organization. Can you be a better man on and off the field? If you can achieve that, that’s it.”
In his career playing for New England, Guy started 103 games, logged 10.5 sacks, 37 quarterback hits, 202 solo tackles, and 22 tackles for loss. He even recorded the sole interception of his career as a Patriot – picking off then-Browns QB Baker Mayfield in Week 8 in 2019.
Guy’s stats aren’t flashy, which is pretty par for the course for a D-lineman. It was his reliability and adaptability that made him a household name in New England for seven seasons.
While visiting Foxborough, Guy said he watched the team practice Friday ahead of its Week 8 matchup with the Browns. He said he liked what he saw out of the Patriots, offering them high praise amid their four-game win streak.
“You can see the chemistry. You can see every last person doing it for the person next to them,” Guy said of the 2025 New England team. “And you could see the communication, the joyfulness that you’re having. When you’re able to have that joyfulness on the field and on the sideline, you could see how the team’s going to build.
“I said this in the beginning before the season even started. I said, ‘This is a team that’s going to come in here, they’re going to build this brotherhood and you’re going to see them on the rise.’ And that’s what you’re doing. They’re learning every single game. They’re rising to get to the achievement that they want to get to. We can’t tell how far they’re going to go. We’re not there yet. But we can see every game they’re getting better. Every practice they’re getting better, to hold each other accountable. And when you hold each other accountable, all you could do is grow as a team. And that’s what you want when you have a new head coach, new staff.”
As for what’s next for Guy, he said to expect to see him on television “giving my opinions about teams and players.”
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