During the time in which Tom Brady was dealing with the Deflategate mess, former New England Patriots teammate Darrelle Revis appeared to throw the quarterback and his team under the bus.
At that time, Revis pointed to the history of New England being found guilty of cheating in and said “Tom was there when they did that stuff in the past.”
Revis and his new/old team, the New York Jets, are hosting Brady’s Pats this Sunday in a pivotal battle with playoff implications.
During his press conference leading up to the game on Thursday, Brady was asked is his opinion had changed regarding his old teammate since Revis appeared to throw some shade his way.
Brady then gave a circuitous response in which he detailed what a pleasure it was to have him on the team and what a great player Revis is, never responding directly to the question. It was classic Patriots speak in the mold of Bill Belichick himself.
“It was great having him as a teammate. He brings a lot to, I think, the defense that he plays on,” Brady said, via Chris Mason of the Boston Herald. “We played him a bunch of times when he played for the Jets and then Tampa. Then played him here, and back to the Jets. Basically played against him every year in some form or fashion. He’s just a great player. I think he does a lot of things really well, and it’s fun to watch him play. I think he has a very unique style but he certainly locks his guy down. I think that’s pretty impressive, to do it for as many years as he has. It’s not a simple scheme for a guy like that because it puts a lot of pressure on those corners. It’s like having two offensive tackles that you don’t ever give any help to, and whoever they go up against they go up against, and it’s pretty impressive to see what he’s accomplished this year, what he’s accomplished every year. He’s a great player.”
Finally, when pressed if his opinion had changed in the aftermath of the Deflategate scandal, Brady answered “”No. No.”
We’re not sure if we’re buying that snake oil, Mr. Brady.
Chances are, he cannot wait to stick it to his former teammate and the hated Jets, too.
New England is still playing to secure home field throughout the playoffs. New York is still fighting for its playoff life. It should be a fantastic game.