This offseason, the Patriots expanded executive Dave Ziegler’s role to include more roster-building powers.
It’s not the first time he’ll perform extra responsibilities.
New England’s new personnel man once dabbled as a background actor for shows like Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and The Sopranos as a young coach, according to screenshots dug up by Andrew Callahan from the Boston Herald.
You’ll see a young Ziegler behind Ice-T and Ludacris in SVU’s Season 8 finale. He’s playing an intrepid New York City reporter, which must’ve come up during his interview with media-loving Bill Belichick.
Callahan also reports Ziegler played a walk-on role in the infamous series finale of HBO’s The Sopranos and attended a movie premiere when actress Emma Stone’s father joined his high school coaching staff in Arizona.
Add it all together and when then-Broncos coach Josh McDaniels plucked him from Arizona in 2010, family and friends reportedly toasted to “Hollywood” Ziegler’s new NFL endeavor.
“Hollywood” must've made the right career choice. One decade and a few Patriots Super Bowl rings later, he’s the handpicked successor to new Texans GM Nick Caserio, no longer a character set in the background.
His next role: Retooling the Patriots roster for the next leg of the Belichick dynasty.