On Tuesday, former Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi tore into new Patriots wideout Chad Ochocinco, based on a Twitter message in which Ochocinco indicated that he was in awe of the New England offense.
Appearing on The Waddle & Silvy Show on ESPN 1000 in Chicago, former Patriots safety and current NBC Football Night in America analyst Rodney Harrison agreed with Bruschi’s comments.
“You got to understand. Bruschi is an old school Patriot guy,” Rodney said. “I mean the guy went to three or four, four Super Bowls, won 3 there. And he’s an old school Patriot guy, I mean he’s a die hard guy. No one outprepares Tedy Bruschi, no one outworks Tedy Bruschi. When I was there I was never in awe, of anything. Because you expect greatness, when you prepare, when you work hard, and when you do the things you’re supposed to do. You expect to have success.
“When we stopped Peyton Manning in the playoffs, and we’d intercept him, we weren’t in awe of Peyton Manning. We knew we could go out there and stop him, because that’s what we prepared for. So you look at a guy like Chad Ochoinco, you know that becomes a distraction when you’re tweeting and you’re bringing the fans into the mix. And [Bill] Belichick would always tell us, there’s always something else you can do improve this team, to improve your play. Study more, work harder. Be an asset, don’t be a liability.
“And when you look at Chad Ochocinco’s stats, one catch for 14 yards, that’s unacceptable. And when they were doing all these productive plays, you were on the bench. Tedy’s just like me, and Willie McGinest and all these other guys. Don’t be in awe of the situation, be part of that situation. Make it better. So I think Tedy Bruschi sent a message out to that entire New England Patriot team. This is a different team, they’re a younger team. So Chad Ochocinco, get with the program. He told him exactly right. And it wouldn’t surprise me if Belichick even pulled him to the side.
“You can’t be in awe of Tom Brady and these guys. You’ve seen this happen in a short training camp. You know, you’ve played against Brady. You played against a lot of these championship teams. Why are you in awe? It just becomes a distraction. Like Tedy said, ‘Hey man, be part of the program.’”
Ochocinco has been silent on Twitter since the Tuesday remark that set Bruschi off. And given Ochocinco’s usual loquaciousness, his silence speaks volumes.