Brandon Meriweather: 'Coward Move' By Roger Goodell
BOSTON (CBS) -- Roger Goodell will not be in Foxboro for this weekend's AFC Championship Game, instead choosing to spend another weekend in Atlanta.
It's a move that has sparked much joy (and anger) with Patriots fans, happy that Goodell is terrified to come to Gillette and face the music for his handling of DeflateGate. Still, most would like the commish to actually come to Gillette and face the music for his handling of DeflateGate.
Former Patriots safety Brandon Meriweather joined 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich on Thursday for his weekly interview, and didn't mince words about Goodell's decision to stay away from Gillette.
"That's a coward move. That's letting [them] know you did something wrong," Meriweather said of Goodell. "If you punish your child, you don't shy away from them. You let them know why you punished them and why it was happening. Then you show up and tell them you love them. It is what it is."
Meriweather thinks this goes further than Goodell being worried about the reception he'd receive from fans at Gillette.
"That let's you know, is this about his and Mr. Kraft's relationship now? It's bigger than him just suspending Tom," he said.
Toucher & Rich asked Meriweather if he believes a story from Sports Illustrated in 2011 about Goodell's days before coming the commissioner, detailing how he disarmed a robber when he was a bartender in college. Meriweather has a hard time believing that one, but he also admits he knows nothing about Goodell.
"He doesn't seem like that type of guy, but at the same time, you know, a lot of people don't seem like the people they are. So it is what it is," said Meriweather. "He might have hit him with something. It could be a lot of things. It could have been a prank."
A prank? Do people pull those kinds of pranks? Meriweather said those pranks happened often when he was growing up.
"That was basically how you pranked people," he said.
Somehow, those pranks never turned violent.
"Usually, if you get pulled up on that and you're close, you just say 'alright man, you've won this one.' By that time, someone is just saying 'I'm playing with you.' I know a couple of people who do it all the time," said Meriweather. "I've seen one of my homeboys actually jump out and kidnap my homeboy's sister in front of him. In a ski mask and jumped out of a van and took her, right in front of her.
"People actually play like that," he said. "I would never do anything like that... How do you think I made it out of the hood? I'm a good guy."
Meriweather also touched on Tom Brady getting rattled in the pocket, tackling Ben Roethlisberger and his biggest hit in college. Listen to the full interview below:
