Eagles lineman furious over 'arrogance' of the Patriots
Apparently, defeating the Patriots in the Super Bowl didn’t alleviate Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson’s grudge against the NFL’s most recent dynasty.
More than three months after Philadelphia beat New England 41-33 in Super Bowl LII, Johnson took some shots at the Patriots’ “arrogance,” which he indicated has made him “mad” in the past.
“Here’s what p—-d me off,” Johnson said recently on retired wrestler “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s podcast, per ESPN.
“The Patriots, obviously, I respect their coach, I respect Bill (Belichick), I respect Tom Brady, but just because the way that they won the Super Bowls, the Patriot Way, is that how everybody else is supposed to do the same thing? No, it’s not. And that’s what I got mad at, the arrogance by them,” he added.
Johnson went on to claim that “some stuff happened behind closed doors” between Belichick and Philadelphia head coach Doug Pederson, as well as between Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie.
“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— kind (of) built up to that, and I just got tired of hearing about it, man, to be honest,” Johnson said.
It’s unclear what specific incidents Johnson was referring to, but it’s not the first time he has gone off on the Patriots.
Just days after the Super Bowl, Johnson described the Patriots as a “fear-based organization” and said he doesn’t think players actually enjoy being on the team.
“I just think that the Patriot Way is a fear-based organization,” he said on Bartsool Sports’ “Pardon My Take” podcast, according to NESN. “Obviously, do they win? H— yes, they win. They’ve won for a long time. Do I think people enjoy and can say, ‘I had a lot of fun playing there’? No, I don’t. That’s just the God’s honest truth.”
He noted that since NFL careers are relatively short, it’s important to actually “have fun” while playing the game.
“You only get to do this job one time, so let’s have fun while we’re doing it,” he said. “Not to be reckless, but I’d much rather have fun and win a Super Bowl than be miserable and win five Super Bowls. But hey, it is what it is.”
Just because Johnson wants to enjoy his profession doesn’t mean he lacks passion. In fact, speaking to Austin, he said he tries to approach the game in a “fearless” way.
“The way I approach the game, man I try to approach it fearless. We talk about the Patriots, I got in a lot of trouble running my mouth. But my thinking was they give too much respect to these (f—ing) guys. Everybody is half-a–ed scared of them and they’re beat before they get on the field. I ain’t playing Tom Brady; I don’t give a (f—) about him,” he said, per NBC Sports.
Though Johnson is by no means a fan of the Patriots, he couldn’t help but mention the sustained success they’ve had for more than 15 years. He even thinks it’s possible to learn from their consistency.
“I think we can learn from the Patriots, even though I don’t like them,” Johnson said. “I think you can learn from them. They’ve had that consistency year in and year out for a long time and it’s hard.”
“People want to pat you on the back and tell you how good you are. And that’s the worst thing you can do, to have that relief factor, kind of pause and think everything’s made for you,” he added.
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