Darrelle Revis has no sympathy for Patriots QB Tom Brady

Darrelle Revis spent a year with the Pats and took home a Super Bowl ring. That didn't stop him from throwing out some barbs in a piece that GGN favorite Manish Mehta posted last night

In the article, he spares no criticism of Brady and his responsibility for the "-gates" despite winning a ring with Brady.  He never accused Brady of being in in on the cheating, but he's not exactly a Tom Brady sympathizer if Brady was indeed innocent.

"Tom was there when they did that stuff in the past."

"There's people in the world that get convicted all the time that didn't do the crime. That's just the history of how stuff goes sometimes"

He took a few shots at the Pats as well, bringing up another infamous moment in Pats/Jets history:

"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."

"(The Patriots) have a history of doing stuff. You can't hide that.…"

"New England's been doing stuff in the past and getting in trouble"

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Wowzer. I don't know what prompted this, but Revis definitely is not a huge fan of the Patriots anymore, and the comments come right at the time where the NFL dips in the media spotlight for a few weeks.

A few things stick out at me right away: Revis denied he was aware of the Pats cheating and doesn't directly accuse them of breaking rules. In absence of a smoking gun, he (like myself) point to the fact that the Pats do have a history of allegedly bending and skirting the rules and thus would fit a pattern. However, it's one thing for me to say these things sitting on my couch and being a fan of the accused rivals  however it's a whole other thing for an ex teammate to level that particular accusation against them.

Revis does mention Brady deserves no special treatment, even if he is the so called "golden boy" of the NFL. He says special rules can't be applied to him and that the whole Deflategate saga is because Brady is such a big name. Revis said the only reason  it's a big issue is because Brady and the Pats are the forefront of yet another "-gate." But are his comments justified?

The fact of the matter is Brady was not caught, but refused to turn over evidence to the NFL. The case of cell phone texts and calls is suspicious at worst and circumstantial at best. The entire issue is muddled because of Goodell and the NFL's way of dishing out punishment.

The NFL couldn't go easy on the Pats or it would look like Goodell was taking it easy on Kraft, his strongest ally. But did the NFL go easy on the individual player who brings in a ton of money and is generally considered one of the good guys? What if it was Johnny Manziel who was caught, how would the punishment differ? Pats fans would say that Brady is being railroaded, while other fans say the punishment fit the crime. Revis' opinion fits squarely in the latter of the two.

Revis also hinted to a larger problem in the NFL which is the punishment policy. Let's just say he's not a huge fan of the NFLPA.

"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."

He feels that the Players Association failed the guys on the field by allowing the CBA to keep Goodell as quote "the judge jury and executioner." Revis is entitled to those opinions and certainly we as the supporters of the NFL product are also allowed to share the same questions, but the fact of the matter is, the NFL is in a no win situation in this mess. Revis as a player has always been outspoken and didn't exactly pull punches on the Pats or the NFL by and large.

The comments themselves aren't bombshells but are interesting considering they came within months of him winning a Super Bowl with the Pats. As mentioned, the article comes at a time where these kinds of things tend to get blown up in the media and spun by pundits and fans alike. Obviously, they are going to be the talk for a few more days until the next Deflategate headline comes out and we move on to something else. In the meantime, Revis once again owns the spotlight, even if it's not on the field and the Pats/Jets saga just added another layer to their saga.