FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Tom Brady just wants to talk about football. The New York Jets won’t let him.
Day after noisy day, the mouths to the south keep moving. The quarterback tries to evade their onslaughts as if they were 300-pound pass rushers. The latest blitz: Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie called the mop-topped leader of the New England Patriots an expletive.
“I’ve been called worse,” Brady said, brushing it off like the heavy snow that fell on Foxborough. “I’m sure there’s a long list of people who feel that way.”
Cromartie made his comment Tuesday to the New York Daily News and didn’t back off Wednesday, although he said he has never met Brady.
“Why should I regret it? That’s how I feel,” he said. “As long as I’m in the NFL and he’s in the NFL, there’s going to be a hatred.”
New York’s Rex Ryan hopes to be as successful outwitting New England’s Bill Belichick on the field as he is off it when the coaches lead their teams in Sunday’s divisional playoff game.
Ryan already has opened wide his bulging playbook of colorful remarks by throwing verbal jabs at Brady, who simply shrugs them off — but may not forget.
Last Thursday, the Jets boss said “nobody” studies like Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning. Brady, Ryan said, “thinks he does” but gets more help from Belichick than there is with Manning. Brady acknowledged he gets “a ton” of help from his coach.
On Saturday night during the Patriots’ bye week, Brady attended the Broadway play “Lombardi” about Green Bay Packers legendary coach Vince Lombardi and missed part of the Jets’ 17-16 playoff win over the Colts on television. Ryan said on Monday, with a grin, that “Manning would have been watching our game.”
Ryan also said that day Brady “took a shot at me by his antics on the field.” Did he mean Brady pointed at the Jets’ sideline or looked at them after scoring?
“I don’t like seeing that; nobody does. No Jet fan likes to see that. And I know he can’t wait to do it. He’s not going to say anything publicly,” Ryan said.
He’s right about that.
“It’s certainly not my intent. I’m sure there’s 50,000 cameras on the game. If I did that, I’m sure they’d show it,” Brady said, sounding innocent. “I don’t think I’ve ever pointed at anybody. That’s not my style.”
Even if he did rub it in by gesturing to the New York sideline after scoring during a 45-3 win Dec. 6, it could have been prevented — by the Jets.
“I come from the school of thought where if you don’t want someone to celebrate or be excited or say something to you or do something that you might perceive as offensive, then don’t let them score,” Jets linebacker Jason Taylor said.
Cromartie said he hopes Brady tries to pick on him Sunday for his remark. But is there a line that can be crossed that goes beyond trash talking?
“I’m sure there is,” Belichick said.
And what is that?
“I don’t know,” he said. “In my mind right now it’s the New York Jets Sunday at 4:30.”
“We don’t have to be all lovey-dovey and say he’s the greatest thing since sliced bread,” Ryan said. “We have a right to our opinion and a comment like that; it’s no big deal.”
