NORTH ATTLEBORO — It’s not in any playbook, but sooner or later a lot of New England Patriots get the word on where they can get a good haircut not far from the shadow of Gillette Stadium.

Over the past 10 years or so, Terrence Manning of Providence has developed a growing roster of Pats clients and nearly two dozen are now regulars at the Soho Hair Design Salon he opened last year on Route 1.

On Wednesday, the newly retired Tedy Bruschi looked relaxed as Manning buzzed away at his crop of thick black hair while women with their hair wrapped in tin foil barely looked up from their magazines.

“It took me a while to get him,” Manning said in a soft voice that bares little trace of his New Orleans childhood. “He used to get his hair cut next door and I’d keep going outside to give him my card.”

“He kind of had the hair of a lawyer,” Manning said as Bruschi laughed. “I told him why don’t you let me sharpen you up?”

Bruschi, who announced his retirement a couple of days ago, said he knew Manning already cut a lot of other players’ hair so he decided to get a trial haircut and from there they built up a rapport.

“He does my sons’ hair now, too,” Bruschi said as Manning lathered up some “texture putty” to spread through his hair. “And it’s not just the haircut, it’s also that this is a place where we can relax.”

Manning, who does not allow anyone to pester the players for autographs or memorabilia, said that he clipped his first Patriots clients about 10 years ago when he was working at a Providence barbershop that he has since parted ways with. Vernon Crawford and Ben Coates were among the first, he said, but soon they were bringing their teammates with them.

Since then Manning, who named his shop after his favorite section of Manhattan, has taken the shears to the likes of Rodney Harrison, Ty Law, Lawyer Milloy and Kevin Faulk.

Working with a minimum of motion and chit-chat, Manning said he originally planned on being a professional basketball player as he grew up in Providence after his family relocated from Louisiana.

He was always cutting his friends’ hair, he said, but it was just something he was good it and nothing he planned to pursue. While still concentrating on basketball, he decided to work as a barber in Providence, he said, and ended up going to the Rhode Island Beauty Academy to get licensed.

And while being a hairstylist was an unexpected career turn, Manning said it’s something he loves.

He said he was never too intimidated by the prospect of cutting NFL players’ hair, but he was initially daunted at the thought of tackling women’s hairstyles. Now about 85 percent of his customers are women and about the only men he will book are either Patriots or friends.

The Pats are a pretty well-groomed group, Manning said, noting that he regularly neatens up Laurence Maroney’s trademark long dreadlocks and that it’s pretty much team tradition to get spruced up right before a game.

“He’s very precise and he gets it real right,” rookie wide receiver Terrence Nunn said Wednesday as he took his turn in the chair, wanting to be ready for the bright lights of Thursday night’s game against the Giants.

Manning has not touched a hair on Tom Brady’s head, but is not ruling out that possibility.

“I see him at the games and in the locker room sometimes and say come on down with the rest of the guys,” Manning said. “Yeah, I think Tom could get freshened up a little bit –– just a little bit sharper, a little bit more fun.”

bpoliche@projo.com