Darrelle Revis talks sitting down with Bill Belichick before signing, calls him "players coach"...What?!

Darrelle Revis is a New England Patriot.

Has that sunk in yet? It certainly hasn't for me. Over the years, there has been plenty of hate between the Patriots and Jets, and most recently a lot of it has centered around the Jets number one star, Darrelle Revis.

Revis once called Bill Belichick a "jerk" on ESPN. This after calling Randy Moss a "slouch". That was also on ESPN, they just love those word association games.

Anyway, that was a couple years ago. Apparently that's a lifetime in the NFL, as Revis is now currently wearing a Patriots uniform.

So, how did it all happen? What convinced Revis to join New England? What does he think of it all now? Thankfully, he was available to answer these burning questions after practice today.

It all started with a nice little sit down between Revis and Belichick before he ended up making the decision to join the Patriots.

BostonGlobe:

Revis said when he was mulling his next destination after being released from Tampa Bay, he and Belichick sat down together and discussed their past.

“I think [my perception of Belichick] changed during that conversation, when me and him sat down and just had a brief conversation,” Revis said, silver helmet with a half-filled Gatorade bottle dangling in his right hand. “We moved forward, and whatever we had in the past we put it behind us. I think it changed during that moment.”

Oh, to be a fly on that wall.

As the Belichick "Football Life" documentary kind of showed, the Patriots coach is actually, you know, a person. He's not this evil creature everyone seems to make him out to be because he's short with the media. He can be friendly! Apparently meeting the man behind the mask was enough to convince Revis to sign onboard, and he seems to be enjoying his time here so far.

“I think that’s the biggest thing that people really don’t understand about Bill is he’ll ask questions,” Revis said. “He’ll ask questions, he’ll try to get other people’s insights, especially veterans, to see if we got any insight from playing for many years. He’ll sit down and have a conversation with you. I think that’s why he’s so genius. I think that’s why he’s so genius at what he’s done — he’s very smart but at the same time he knows the pulse of the team.”

“He’s a player-coach,” Revis added. “A lot of people might not say that outside looking in, but we’re with Bill every day. We hang out with him every day. We’re in meetings with him every day. We’re around him all the time.”

Say what you want about Bill Belichick, but it does seem that just about every player not named Adalius Thomas or Wes Welker really grows to respect the man once they get in the building.

Darrelle Revis, of all people, is sitting here calling him a genius and a player's coach.

What crazy times we live in.