In an unusual move for a player who hasn't accomplished anything in the NFL and even more unusual in New England, N'Keal Harry has requested a trade from the Patriots.
Speaking on NBC Sports Boston this week, former Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson said he believes this is more evidence of the culture changing now that Tom Brady is in Tampa Bay.
“I think the Patriots, quite honestly, have lost that thing that makes them the Patriots,” Johnson said. “You take Tom Brady out of New England and the entire ecosystem has been disrupted. When have you ever seen a player take on Bill Belichick that has not accomplished anything in this league, like N’Keal Harry is taking him on so publicly?”
He added: “You’re seeing things from players you’ve never seen before. You’re seeing Bill Belichick do things you’ve never seen Bill Belichick do. Why? Why all of a sudden now? It’s a totally different ecosystem now that Tom is gone. And you’re seeing things and behaviors out of Bill Belichick and out of players that you’ve never seen before."
In fact, the former linebacker said what Harry did was one of the worst things he could have done to Belichick.
“You can’t insult Bill Belichick worse than what N’Keal Harry did,” Johnson said. “He basically just went up and spat in his face in front of everybody.”
Johnson noted how Brady set the standard during his time with the team.
“(Brady) was the guy that set the example for everyone else,” he said. “Bill could puff out his chest, he could play hardball, because he knew he had Tom behind him to kind of cover his warts and make up for any decisions that he made. And so guys fell in line because you wanted to play for a winner, you wanted to play with Tom Brady, you wanted to win. And I just don’t think that same feeling is there for players in this organization.”
It's unclear what the Patriots plan on doing with Harry, as trading him won't be easy.
