/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/8876907/20130120_jtl_al2_034.0.jpg)
Baltimore Ravens All-Pro outside Linebacker Terrell Suggs recently said that the New England Patriots are hated throughout the NFL in a recent interview with "The Big Show" on WEEI in Boston.
So where is Suggs getting this info? He says from former players of the Patriots.
"The NFL is not very big," Suggs said on WEEI. "You think we don't talk to guys that have played for the New England Patriots, that have been on the New England Patriots that have been like, 'Oh, it's been like this.'
"It ain't just me. Why did Bart Scott say the same thing? You think it's just us? You think it's just got something to do with us? No. This is because we have inside information. We know."
Suggs felt no need to apologize for his comments either. He has gone on to say that the Patriots are "arrogant" as well. He sticks by his statements to the Boston based radio station.
"Do I apologize for what I said? No. Do I mean what I said? Yeah," Suggs said. "Could I have worded it a little better? Probably. But the fact of the matter is you can't really consider it a rivalry because you have a few more championships than we do, but this has been steaming for a while."
Terrell's hatred towards the Patriots and Tom Brady in particular seem to string all the way back to the tuck rule incident and how even the NFL as an organization treats the Patriots and Tommy boy differently.
"Years before, I hit Drew Brees and I accidentally tore his knee up. No rule was made," Suggs recalled. "Of all the quarterbacks in the NFL who got their knees blown out when they got hit -- Carson Palmer got his knee blown out -- but then one guy got hit and changed the whole rule for the NFL?"
It seems ESPN is trying to see if Suggs' statements carry any weight and it seems that they just might. In a poll released by ESPN asking if the Patriots are the most hated team in the NFL over 53% agreed that they are.
I'm sure much of that hatred comes purely from the fact that the Patriots win, and they win a lot. Yes Tom Brady can come off as a cry baby when he speaks and Bill Belichick isn't the most personable coach in the world but hate comes from being beaten too. Many a Pat's hater was probably born from AFC Championship losses, Super Bowl losses and just plain losses in general.
Most Ravens fans and players first hatred goes directly north towards Pittsburgh but some of that hatred may be veering a bit northeasterly as the Ravens and Pats have been facing off more and more in the playoffs of late.
Let's do an interesting poll to find out what most Ravens fans are feeling towards these two teams as of late.