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BY BOB HOLT
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
The pre-game rhetoric has begun on the march to the Super Bowl. And I don't think Tom Brady will be inviting Antonio Cromartie to Disney World if the New England Patriots get past the New York Jets and win.
Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie ripped into the Patriots quarterback in a profanity-laced rant Tuesday, calling him an "ass----," and claiming he hates him.
Jets coach Rex Ryan got a foothold into the battle first when he said it was just "Brady being Brady," referring to his finger-pointing to the Jets sideline after his touchdown pass gave the Patriots a 38-3 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter on Dec. 6 in Foxborough on the way to New England's 45-3 win over the Jets earlier this season.
Cromartie, in his first year with the Jets after four years with the Chargers, backed up Ryan Tuesday when he was asked if he's ever seen Brady pointing after the Patriots score."We see that a lot. He does it a lot," Cromartie said to the New York Daily News. "That's the kind of guy he is. We really don't give a damn, to tell you the truth."
Okay, what kind of guy is Brady?
"An ass----.
"---- him."
Aside from that, he's a really swell guy. Brady has a strong chance to win the MVP award in the NFL this season after throwing 36 TD passes, just four INTs and leading the Patriots to a league-best 14-2 record.
Cromartie just raised the stakes even higher for the Jets in their divisional round playoff game Sunday in Foxborough.
Cromartie still remembers his treatment in San Diego after being traded to the Jets last March for a third-round draft pick. There were whispers in San Diego about his work ethic, his willingness to be physical on the field and some off-the-field issues. Asked yesterday about his departure from San Diego, Cromartie sounded like a man getting the last laugh.
"I'm in the playoffs and they're not," Cromartie said of the Chargers, who had a disappointing 9-7 season and missed the playoffs. "I'm enjoying every moment in this locker room and every day I'm around my teammates.
The New York Post reports Cromartie was viewed as a player of questionable character. Reports he fathered nine children by eight different women fed into the stereotype of an undisciplined athlete.
Meanwhile, "I've been called worse," Brady said to USA Today about Cromartie's thoughts. "There's a long list of people that feel that way."
Coach Rex Ryan said Wednesday he had no problems with Cromartie's language, part of an escalating war of words coming from the Jets side ahead of the teams' AFC divisional playoff game on Sunday.
Brady said he was an emotional player, and it was all in the spirit of competition.
