Nickell Robey-Coleman: 'I feel a little disrespected that people think I would disrespect Tom Brady'
ATLANTA — Nickell Robey-Coleman had a meeting with Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay on Monday, and it wasn’t to discuss the infamous non-call on Robey-Coleman’s pass interference in the NFC championship game.
Robey-Coleman was in the headlines for a different reason on Monday. A Bleacher Report article had him sharing his thoughts on the Patriots (“I naturally hate them”) and the most explosive comments might have been that age was “taking a toll” on Tom Brady.
“[McVay] said, ‘Robey, I know you’re a different guy, you’re not that type of guy, you’ve got way more class that that,’ which I do,” Robey-Coleman said at Super Bowl opening night on Monday. “He’s like, ‘Just answer the questions tonight, another day at the office and move on from it after tonight.’ ”
Robey-Coleman said, predictably, that his comments on Brady were taken out of context.
“You can never talk about somebody that’s like, the sensei of football,” Robey-Coleman said. “It’s a respect level. At this point I feel a little disrespected that people think I would disrespect Tom Brady. I got nothing but respect. I’m a class act when it comes to that.”
Brady, predictably, wasn’t taking the bait. “Yeah, I don’t have much to add,” he said when asked about the comments Monday night.
Perhaps it was because of his chat with McVay, but Robey-Coleman had nothing but great things to say about Brady on Monday night. He said the comments about the 41-year-old Brady’s age were “taken out of context, period.”
“He’s a great quarterback,” Robey-Coleman said. “We know he’s got a lot of championships, we know he’s got a lot of accolades. He’s a future Hall of Famer. What’s different about Tom Brady is he puts his teammates in the right position to make plays. That’s why he’s Tom Brady, that’s why he’s great. That’s why I respect him.”
The same goes for the Patriots as a whole, he said.
“I’ve got nothing but respect for their team,” Robey-Coleman said. “It’s something that got taken out of context. I cleared the air for all the rumors and how the story was created.”
Oh, and then there was the other big story that made Robey-Coleman a household name. He wasn’t called for a pass interference on a key call against the Saints, and that controversy hasn’t slowed down. He also was fined for a helmet-to-helmet hit, also uncalled, on the play.
“I don’t make the calls,” Robey-Coleman said about the unending controversy. “When I see things on social media, I just ignore them.”
All of a sudden Robey-Coleman went from a relative unknown to one of the more talked about players in Super Bowl LIII.
“It’s pretty surreal,” Robey-Coleman said. “You’ve got a call that wasn’t made, five days later I get fined, then a few days later this happens with the out-of-context article. You’ve just got to look at it for what it is, and can’t get distracted.”
The comments about Brady will die down, perhaps. Brady, like many great players, finds motivation in many different ways. Robey-Coleman was asked if his comments will make his job tougher on Sunday.
“Ummm … maybe,” Robey-Coleman said with a smile. “I’m ready. We’ll see.”
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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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