Ravens Player Rips The Patriots, Calls Their Offense A Gimmick In A Twitter Rant

Before the Patriots even secured their place in the AFC Championship Game by beating the Texans yesterday, Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo was ripping them on Twitter.

The rant started with a simple complaint — Ayanbadejo thinks the Patriots fast-paced hurry-up offense is unfair.

@brendon310

The Patriots are the fasted team in the NFL. This year they've borrowed elements of Oregon's offensive philosophy — trying to get to the line as fast as possible to keep the defense on the back foot.

It makes the game more exciting and throws the defensive for a loop, but some old-school football types (like Alabama coach Nick Saban) think it dilutes the purity of the game.

Ayanbadejo falls into that category:

@brendon310

Ayanbadejo then hedged, smartly:

@brendon310

But then he moved beyond the moral failings of the hurry-up and attacked the Patriots for some questionable organizational practices.

1. Spygate, the Patriots were fined $500,000 for video tapping a Jets practice in 2007.

2. Cutting Tiquan Underwood the day before the Super Bowl last year.

@brendon310

He rubbed in that 2007 Super Bowl loss to the Giants:

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And finally he ended the rant by coming full circle. This time he said the hurry-up violated the masculine spirit of the game.

@brendon310

UPDATE: He apologized today:

I made selfish comments on twitter last night that reflected poorly upon myself, my teammates, and the organization. For that I apologize.

— Brendon Ayanbadejo (@brendon310) January 14, 2013