Not everyone with current or previous ties to the New England Patriots is coming to Tom Brady’s defense in his recent involvement with the Deflategate scandal. One of those is former Brady teammate and Patriots cornerback Darrelle Revis. In a recent interview with the New York Daily News, Revis had a few outspoken opinions on a number of issues that encompass the scandal. For starters, he made it clear that just because Brady hasn’t directly been involved with any wrongdoing in the past doesn’t mean he should be automatically exonerated, especially because he was on the team when the Pats’ “Spygate” incident occurred in 2007.
“But if (the NFL) feels he did the crime or he did something and they want to penalize them, then that’s that. (The Patriots) have a history of doing stuff. You can’t hide that.… Tom was there when they did that stuff in the past.”
Revis, who agreed to a five-year, $75 million deal with the New York Jets following a 2014-15 Super Bowl-winning season spent with Belichick and Co., made a point in the interview that he has absolutely no knowledge of anyone associated with the Patriots — including Brady — tampering with footballs during the AFC Championship against the Indianapolis Colts in January. However, Revis does suggest that New England’s track record with breaking the rules may have had something to do with how the league chose to punish the Patriots… a $1 million fine, the loss of first and fourth round draft picks for the 2016 and 2017 seasons, respectively, and a four-game suspension for Brady in 2015.
“When stuff repeatedly happens, then that’s it. I don’t know what else to tell you. Stuff repeatedly happened through the years. You got SpyGate, you got this and that and everything else.”
It’s no secret that Tom Brady is considered by most to be the face of the National Football League. Three Super Bowl MVP Awards and 10 Pro Bowl appearances paired with a clean-cut, pretty boy persona that he seemingly exudes effortlessly on and off the field may put doubt in the public’s mind as to whether or not he should be considered a “bad guy.” But for Revis, if Brady was in fact involved, he shouldn’t receive a pass because of his squeaky clean image.
“If I fail a drug test, then I fail a drug test. If I get a DUI, I get a DUI,” Revis said. “If Tom gets caught with a DUI, it’s a DUI. …. If they are saying that he did what he’s done, then the suspension is the suspension.
Revis is certainly going against the norm here; most of Brady’s former and current teammates have defended their quarterback throughout the scandal’s findings. Make no mistake, Revis knows he’s in the minority. Even with that knowledge, he has absolutely no problem being one of the few not blindly sticking up for Brady when he’s pegged as one who doesn’t follow the rules.
“I don’t care. It doesn’t matter. If people want to judge him as a cheater, that’s their opinion.”
[Source: New York Daily News]
