AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. — Stephon Gilmore has always been a target.
The Patriots cornerback got used to criticism as a quarterback for South Pointe High School in Rock Hill, S.C., where he was crowned Mr. Football as a senior. He then remained in state to blossom into the top corner at the University of South Carolina, where he took SEC opponents’ top receivers on a weekly basis and lived under the microscope of a rabid fan base as a result.
So Gilmore had a good idea of what he was getting himself into last offseason when he signed a five-year, $65 million contract with the most successful organization of the millennium. He landed the biggest contract that Bill Belichick had ever given a defensive player, so Gilmore essentially was forced to live up to a bar that had never before been set.
“I just block it out,” Gilmore said this week from the Falcon Stadium game field. “I’ve been dealing with it my whole life. High school, I was a quarterback. College, I was a cornerback. NFL, it’s the same thing with more people watching. Sometimes (critics) don’t know what they’re talking about. Focus on day by day, working on your technique and get better every week. Listen to the coaches because that’s who really knows what is going on, and go from there.”
Gilmore certainly didn’t get off to an ideal start. He recognized the criticism existed because the questions were unavoidable, but he always answered with a fair level of accountability, even pointing out after a Week 4 loss to the Panthers that his communication within the defense had fallen short of expectations.
Some of the criticism was over-dramatic, like calls to release or trade Gilmore due to a few bad games. Even after his coming-out party against Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans — with a concussion that he suffered on an early third-down pass breakup, no less — Gilmore’s harshest critics still called for Johnson Bademosi to start after his solid three-game stint replacing the injured Gilmore.
Gilmore understood that some of the criticism did exist because his teammates so ardently had his back during the toughest stretch.
“You can’t really worry about what people say,” Gilmore said. “Just go out and do what you’ve been doing your whole life, play the game and listen to the coaches and adjust as you go. As long as you’re getting better and better every week, listen to the coaches, listen to your teammates. All my life, I never worried about the outside stuff. Even in high school, if I felt like I was better than someone, I always tried to prove it. I really didn’t listen to what someone else said. I try to take it day by day and try to get better. I’m not perfect, but I’m going to try to get there.”
The internal support was significant. Think about it. Gilmore arrived after a five-year stint with the Bills, had never played in the postseason and was rewarded with a contract that dwarfed his teammates’ paychecks, so it would have been easy for players to turn their backs when his early-season mistakes became an issue.
But they respected Gilmore’s work to get it right, and they understood the learning curve. The Bills didn’t game plan on a weekly basis like the Patriots, and those continuous, extensive wrinkles were a challenge to grasp for Gilmore. Teammates had his back, and he quickly figured out why the Patriots have enjoyed so much success.
“It’s a great team to be on,” Gilmore said. “Coming from the outside, you expect everything they do, how they go about it. It’s just different. I see why (the Patriots are successful). Just because you win a game or have a good game, everybody is still hungry to get better and better each week. It’s not easy. You’ve got to be strong-minded and tough to play here.”
Gilmore also draws motivation from his young family. He met his wife as a freshman at South Carolina, and they have a 2-year-old son and 7-month-old daughter. Just this week, he marveled at his wife’s ability to take care of their kids on her own while he was in Colorado with the team, so he wants to hold up his end of the bargain for them, too.
“They’re my motivation,” Gilmore said. “You want them to look back on what their dad did with his life.”
In the first four games, Gilmore allowed nine completions on 13 targets (69.2 percent) for 243 yards (27 yards per completion) and one touchdown. He had an interception and pass breakup. Over his last two outings, including extensive matchups against Evans and Broncos receiver Demaryius Thomas, Gilmore allowed seven completions on 14 targets (50 percent) for 67 yards (9.6 yards per catch) and a touchdown and a breakup. The improvements are obvious.
One consistency through it all has been Gilmore’s demeanor. He is as laid back as anyone, so he never appeared unnerved due to the struggles and isn’t boasting about his rise now.
“I was always quiet as a kid,” he said. “I think more people like people who talk more or are flashy. I was never that type of person. I just want to prove myself. I just worked hard and had that chip on my shoulder. I’m not like the flashy person who is going to go out there and dance. I try to do my job, work hard and help my team win.”
