The Baltimore Ravens — and, more specifically, Terrell Suggs — do not like Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. The two teams have met several times in the postseason in recent years and the end result has been a fierce playoff rivalry.
Suggs hates Brady so much that he has been refusing to address the three-time Super Bowl champion by name this week. And that refusal has trickled down to some other teammates. On ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown, Chris Berman asked both Suggs and Steve Smith who the quarterback of the New England Patriots is.
“The quarterback of New England,” Suggs said.
“Umm, 12?” Smith said.
Despite all the nasty things Suggs has said about Brady and the Patriots in the past (remember what he said after the AFC Championship Game two years ago?), Brady has been killing Suggs with kindness.
“He’€™s phenomenal,” Brady said earlier this week, per Mike Petraglia of WEEI.com. “He’€™s [in his] 12th year; it looks like it’€™s his third year out there. He’€™s the leader of that defense, he makes great plays. … I have a lot of respect for his ability to play the game at a high level; he’€™s phenomenal.”
Suggs doesn’t believe that Brady was being sincere and, given the history between the two players, I don’t blame him. Terrell’s style is to talk trash leading up to the game. Brady does his talking on the field. When the final whistle blows on Saturday, none of it will really matter.
