They were going on a road trip.
Harrison and Feldman still were wearing shorts the following morning when they stepped off the red-eye into the crisp March air of New England.
"It was about 30 degrees outside," Harrison recalled. "I said, `What am I doing here?' "
He was picked up by a team scout in a sedan. The scout took Harrison and Feldman to lunch -- at the Ground Round.
"Yeah, they really wined and dined me," Harrison said. "No Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in my future. Right to the Ground Round. And you know what? I didn't mind. I liked it, in fact. There was no b.s. about it."
By the time he sat down with Bill Belichick, a defensive-minded coach who had been admiring Harrison's no-nonsense toughness for years, the silver and black of the Oakland Raiders was a fading memory. Harrison listened to Belichick's philosophy (with a few interruptions from the Raiders, who repeatedly called Feldman), then asked a few questions of his own.
What was their position on Tebucky Jones, their starting safety? And what about Pro Bowl safety Lawyer Milloy, who was under contract but had refused to restructure his deal and was headed for a showdown with his team?
"My main concern was, `Don't use me as a negotiating tool for your other guys,' " Harrison said. "They assured me they wanted me. They told me I'd be playing either left safety or right safety.
"Then they backed it up when they put a contract in front of me."
Harrison quickly signed it. By the time the Patriots opened their 2003 season, Jones (traded to the Saints) and Milloy (released and signed by the Bills) were gone, and Harrison was the focal point of a totally revamped secondary that included veteran free agent cornerback Tyrone Poole and promising rookies Eugene Wilson and Asante Samuel. That secondary, with veteran Ty Law as its anchor, led the league in interceptions (29) and allowed the fewest touchdown passes (11).
