5 NFL players who criticized Tom Brady feat. Richard Sherman

Tom Brady has the love and adulation of the media, teammates, and fans across the NFL. He, however, hasn't always been the biggest hit with his peers on opposing rosters.

His relationship with a certain former sitting president and the Tuck Rule left many feeling he gets preferential treatment from the governing bodies. Several players have made their disdain for Brady be known throughout the quarterback's career, and that is the focus of this article.

Here, we take a look at five players who openly criticized Tom Brady.

#1 Ray Lewis

Ray Lewis got on Tom Brady's case for the Tuck Rule

Baltimore Ravens' legendary linebacker, Ray Lewis, is one of several players who have criticized Tom Brady. Lewis hit out at the quarterback for his role in the implementation of the Tuck Rule.

The tuck rule was a controversial rule from 1999 until 2013, which stated that the ball leaving the quarterback's hands is considered a forward pass even if the quarterback intends not to pass the ball, but instead continues the forward motion to tuck the ball into his body. Only once the forward motion is completed, and the ball is tucked into the quarterback's body, would a subsequent loss of possession be considered a fumble.

The tuck rule led to a controversial finish to the divisional game between the New England Patriots and the Oakland Raiders in 2002. In the closing moments of the fourth quarter, Tom Brady dropped back to pass. But he then pulled his right hand down below his shoulder and touched the ball to his left hand when Charles Woodson knocked it out of Brady's hands.

The officials initially declared it a recovered fumble, which would have sealed the victory for the Raiders. But after a lengthy review, referee Walt Coleman declared the play an incomplete forward pass, meaning New England got back possession. They went on to win the game and later the Super Bowl, kickstarting an era of dominance for Brady and head coach Bill Belichick.

On Stephen A. Smith's SiriusXM radio show in 2015, Lewis said that Brady's career was started by the Tuck Rule.

"The only reason we know — I'm just being honest! — the only reason we know who Tom Brady is [is] because of a Tuck Rule! There's no such thing as a Tuck Rule! If the ball is in your hand, and I knock it out your hand, whether it's going backwards, forwards, lateral, sideways, however it's coming out, that's a freaking fumble!"

"But guess what we created? We created a freaking Tuck Rule! They don't go to that championship game — they don't go to that championship game if that Tuck Rule if that ball is not called a tuck! That's a fumble!"

"Charles Woodson made that man clearly fumble the ball and they named it the Tuck Rule, something that we've never heard in today's game. So now you've got to ask yourself: When did the legacy really start?"

#2 Charles Woodson

Charles Woodson said Tom Brady owes him his house

Charles Woodson, whose hit forced the ball out of Brady's hands in the Tuck Rule game, also had some very strong words for the Patriots quarterback in the years that followed.

Woodson opened up about the incident on the NFL Network, stating that Brady owed everything to the Tuck Rule (h/t Complex).

"Let's just get this out of the way. If they make the correct call — which they did at first, then they overturned it — this (10)-game playoff streak that Tom Brady has? It never happened. Tom Brady owes me his house. I'm the reason why he's married to who he's married to. I'm a reason for a lot of that. Everything. Because they overturned that call."

#3 Terrell Suggs

Terrell Suggs long battled Tom Brady as a member of the Ravens

A product of "Ball-so-hard University," Arizona State alum Terrell Suggs was a long-time Tom Brady foe as a member of the fearsome Baltimore Ravens defensive front.

All their battles throughout the regular season and playoffs created a healthy rivalry between the two, with Suggs revealing that there was no love lost between himself and the QB. (h/t New York Post):

"I don't think that's appropriate for camera. I don't like him. He don't like me. I don't like his hair. I don't like his smug attitude. Years before, I hit Drew Brees and accidentally tore his knee up. No rule was made. Of all the quarterbacks that got their knees blown out when they got hit — Carson Palmer blew his knee out — but then one guy got hit and changed the whole rule for the NFL?"

#4 Andrew Luck

Andrew Luck felt deflated because of Tom Brady

Andrew Luck never publicly admitted that he disliked Brady, but the 2015 Deflategate scandal in the AFC Championship game between the Patriots and Colts left a sour taste in the Indy QB's mouth.

Following the loss to New England, Luck made some interesting comments in the post-game presser.

"The energy is sort of sucked out of you, you do feel deflated," he said.

Freudian slip or not, Luck clearly had deflategate on his mind in the moments following the AFC Championship game.

#5 Richard Sherman

Richard Sherman hated TB12 before they were teammates

Well before Richard Sherman joined forces with Brady and the Buccaneers this past season, the longtime Seahawks DB tweeted out a photo of the two with the caption: "You mad bro?"

Sherman told Yahoo Sports two seasons before the Patriots' and Seahawks Super Bowl clash what he said to Brady during a 2012 Seattle win over New England:

"I kept saying I'm going to get that next time. Every TV timeout, I went up and said it right to (Tom Brady): 'Please keep trying me. I'm going to take it from you.' That was when they were winning. He just gave me that look and said, 'Oh, I'll see you after the game. Well, I made sure I saw him after the game."

The two surely had some interesting conversations upon becoming teammates in 2021.

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If you use any of the above quotes, please credit The Bleacher Report, Complex, the New York Post and H/T Sportskeeda.