Darrelle Revis only spent one season with the New England Patriots, but that was long enough to earn the first Super Bowl ring of his career. However, the team's success does not prevent the All-Pro cornerback from criticizing his former teammates. In an interview with New York Daily News' Manish Mehta, Revis discussed the Patriots' history of cheating and stood by the league's decision to suspend superstar quarterback Tom Brady.
Darrelle Revis won’t defend Tom Brady’s involvement in DeflateGate
The All-Pro cornerback became the rare Brady teammate not to stick up for the quarterback.
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“Everybody’s blowing it up because it’s Tom Brady,” Revis said regarding the DeflateGate punishment the NFL handed down earlier in May. “I understand that. But if (the NFL) feels he did the crime or he did something and they want to penalize them, then that’s that.”
Brady was suspended four games after the Ted Wells-led investigation of the DeflateGate allegations concluded that the signal caller was aware that Patriots locker room assistants were illegally tampering with the footballs.
The Wells Report as well as New England’s previous punishment for SpyGate in 2007 were persuasive to Revis.
“New England’s been doing stuff in the past and getting in trouble,” Revis said. “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. Obviously in those situations in the past, they had the evidence. So they did what they needed to do.”
Revis' stance on the league's handling of DeflateGate might be influenced by his current employment status. The cornerback signed with the division rival New York Jets this offseason, a team that benefits from any Brady absence.
Asked whether Roger Goodell should hear Brady’s appeal, Revis feels any issues with the commissioner’s objectivity are the fault of the NFLPA.
“He’s the judge, jury and executioner,” Revis said of Goodell, who danced around whether he’ll recuse himself for the Brady appeal when asked at the league meetings in San Francisco on Wednesday. “Everybody signed off on it.... Why didn’t we stand up when it was time to stand up? You can talk about it after the fact, but we all agreed to it. So (the union’s) got to point the finger back at (the union).”
As for whether DeflateGate tarnishes Brady’s legacy, Revis did not express much concern.
“I don’t know,” Revis said. “I don’t care. It doesn’t matter. If people want to judge [Brady] as a cheater, that’s their opinion.”
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