Darrelle Revis did not say anything too inflammatory when asked about the penalties given to his former team/teammates for Deflategate, but he did say that the penalties were deserved based on the New England Patriots’ history of cheating.
“New England’s been doing stuff in the past and getting in trouble,” Revis told the New York Daily News’ Manish Mehta. “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.”
I’m not sure what the “everything else” is, but it could be an allusion to the headset sabotaging the Patriots have been accused of. They have also been accused of scoreboard shenanigans at times.
The comments coming from Revis are interesting because he won a Super Bowl with the Pats last season. Though he started his career with the rival Jets and returned to them this offseason, he still has fond memories from his time with the Pats. Plus, any negative comments he makes about their legacy diminishes what he accomplished there, so he has to be careful with his words. But Revis did say Tom Brady should not receive special treatment just because of who he is.
“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. I’m not the commissioner and don’t make the rules. If they want to change (the suspension) based on new information or new evidence, then okay, but it should have nothing to do with Tom being the face (of the NFL).”
Brady has been suspended four games by the league, but he is appealing that penalty. Some believe that Robert Kraft accepting the NFL’s penalties means he has a deal in place with Commissioner Goodell to have Brady’s suspension reduced.
