It was just one quick comment from Tom Brady, but it sure did touch a nerve for some.
“I’ve loved being outside every day and I think being a native Floridian, I was a native Californian for a long time in my life and I went away from it for about 25 years, and you won’t catch me dead living in the northeast anymore. I am loving the warm weather. It’s been a great feeling.”
Count Jermaine Wiggins as one of those offended.
Brady's former teammate, and current co-host of the Greg Hill Show, took great umbrage with the Buccaneers' signal-caller's representation of the Northeast.
"Why take a shot at New England?" Wiggins asked Friday morning.
"You know what? If he loved the weather down there and you’re not a huge fan of the cold weather there is a nicer way to say, ‘Hey, I loved my time in the Northeast. I love New England. I love the four seasons. But I prefer living in this beautiful weather down South.’ Not I wouldn’t be caught dead there."
Wiggins added, "When he goes down to Florida he’s saying the Northeast crap I wouldn’t be caught dead there. There are people who are still living in the Northeast. We still live there. What does that stay about us?
"Even if I were to go somewhere else and somebody asked me what my time was like living up there I wouldn’t say I wouldn’t be caught dead living in the Northeast."
While fellow co-host Danielle Murr disagreed with Wiggins' take ("You have to look at the context," she said), the former Patriots' tight end dug in.
Wiggins, an East Boston native, went so far as to suggest Brady's comments would impact how some of his former fan base views him going forward.
"I guess when he comes back we’ll see how the Northeast treats him," Wiggins said. And when asked if that actually meant it might lead to people booing Brady on the streets of the Northeast, the Eastie natve responded, "Listen, Danielle. There will be a handful of people who do because of those comments. Those comments, right there … You’re down in Florida. You’re doing your thing down down there. The weather is beautiful. We understand. You don’t have to take shots at where we’re from.
"I would not say I would not be caught dead in Eastie … If I said that now we’ve got issues."