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Lane Johnson has not been afraid to dump all over the Patriots following the Eagles’ victory over New England in Super Bowl LII.
Speaking of dumps, Johnson recently revealed that part of his frustration with the Patriots was motivated by New England’s head coach and owner talking crap to the Eagles before this year’s big game. Transcript via PhillyVoice:
“Here’s what pissed me off,” Johnson said on The Steven Austin Show. “The Patriots, obviously, I respect their coach, I respect Bill, I respect Tom Brady, but just because they won Super Bowls the Patriot Way, is that supposed to be how everybody else is supposed to do the same thing? No, it’s not. And that’s what I got mad at, the arrogance of them. There was obviously some stuff behind closed doors. Their owner talking s*** to our owner. Bill talking s*** to our head coach before the game. I’m not going to say it, but a lot of s*** built up to that and I just got tired of hearing about it, man, to be honest.”
That part about Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft really stood out to me as I was listening to Johnson on Austin’s podcast. We haven’t heard anything like that before until now. Assuming it’s true, it makes the Eagles’ win over the Pats even sweeter.
Some may think Johnson is out of line for continuously calling out the Pats, but I don’t think he is. Just look at the offseason the Patriots have been having. Rob Gronkowski reportedly considering retirement because the culture is wearing on him. Tom Brady saying he “pleads the fifth” when asked if Belichick appreciates him. And so on.
Don’t get me wrong, New England still figures to be a really good team in 2018. But it’s obvious there’s still a lot of strife and discord taking place in that organization, as ESPN originally reported last year.
Johnson has never been shy to call it like he sees it. That’s no different in this case.
(Definitely go check out his entire interview with Stone Cold if you’ve got the time. Worthwhile listen.)