Lane Johnson’s criticism of New England confirmed by former Patriot
We’re finding out there may be some validity to Lane Johnson’s criticism of the Patriots.
Once upon a time, the Philadelphia Eagles marched through the NFL‘s regular season despite losing their starting quarterback. They secured home-field advantage throughout the playoffs but were written off by just about every ‘expert’ and analyst. Some of the most beloved Eagles, including Lane Johnson, were seen wearing dog masks, and just like that, Philly had a rallying cry.
Okay, so that wasn’t really that long ago, but you all know what came next. The Eagles knocked off what might be the greatest dynasty in the history of professional sports, the New England Patriots and shortly thereafter, a war of words began.
One of Philly’s ‘big dogs’ starts some controversy.
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Shortly after Super Bowl LII, Johnson appeared on the Pardon My Take podcast to discuss Philly’s Super Bowl victory and how much fun he had being a part of it.
What most people remember about that conversation was what he had to say about “The Patriots’ Way”. According to Johnson, he’d rather win in Philly and be happy than play for Bill Belichick, win several Super Bowls in New England, and be miserable.
Those comments were met with some backlash. Colin Cowherd criticized Johnson on his highly popular show, ‘The Herd’. Tedy Bruschi and Willie McGinest refuted the claims of Philly’s right tackle as well, but everyone doesn’t feel as though their time in New England has been totally blissful.
Though no quotes are available, you need only look at what’s going on with their quarterback, Tom Brady, and their tight end, Rob Gronkowski.
Recently, some of that normal silence from the guys in Foxborough, Massachusetts has been interrupted by one of their former players.
Maybe Johnson was right after all.
Recently, former Patriots defensive end Cassius Marsh, now with the San Francisco 49ers, was quoted as saying he ‘hated’ his time with New England.
Here’s a quote from a conversation he had with Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle:
"They don’t have fun there. There’s nothing fun about it. There’s nothing happy about it. I didn’t enjoy any of my time there, you know what I’m saying? It made me for the first time in my life think about not playing football because I hated it that much. I confronted (Bill Belichick) about all the things that were going on. I won’t get into detail, but it was B.S. things they were doing. I just wasn’t a fan, and so I, basically, without asking to get cut, I kind of asked to get cut."
None of us are in the Patriots locker room, but that seems pretty straightforward. It’s also kind of hard to ignore the actions of Brady and ‘Gronk’. Two guys who have been the most recognizable players on this team have always been good soldiers but now seem to be the leaders of a mini-uprising.
Maybe Johnson’s comments weren’t that far off after all.