Now, it's really personal.
Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie, taking the baton from Rex Ryan, who criticized Tom Brady's post-touchdown "antics" earlier this week, ripped into the Patriots quarterback in a profanity-laced rant Tuesday, calling him an "ass----," and claiming he hates him.
Ryan set the tone by saying it was just "Brady being Brady," referring to his finger-pointing to the Jets sideline after his touchdown pass gave the Patriots a 38-3 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter on Dec. 6 in Foxborough on the way to New England's 45-3 humiliation of the Jets in their first-place showdown.
Cromartie, in his first year with the Jets after four years with the Chargers, backed up Ryan Tuesday when he was asked by the Daily News if he's ever seen Brady pointing after the Patriots score.
"We see that a lot. He does it a lot," Cromartie said. "That's the kind of guy he is. We really don't give a damn, to tell you the truth."
Okay, what kind of guy is Brady?
"An ass----.
"---- him."
Cromartie just raised the stakes even higher for the Jets in their divisional round playoff game Sunday in Foxborough. With Ryan first taking on Brady on Monday and then Cromartie taking it off the charts, the Jets surely run the risk of raising the QB's already stated hatred of the Jets to a world-record level.
Brady will not likely respond to Cromartie. That is not his style. He will just try to burn him for four touchdowns on Sunday. Just as Bill Belichick will not be drawn into Ryan's declaration that this game is him vs. Belichick.
But Belichick and Brady hate the Jets so much that the Pats QB played the whole way in the 45-3 game. Why does Cromartie feel this way about Brady?
"That's what I think about him. I don't really give a damn about him," he said. "I don't have to play against him. I play against the receivers."
Well, Brady is the one throwing to those receivers. "Yeah, but if I beat the s--- out of his receivers, he can't throw the ball," Cromartie said.
Cromartie says Brady's antics are evident when the Jets watch the film of their games against the Patriots. "He's doing the pointing at our defensive line and stuff like that," Cromartie said. "That's the kind of a guy he is. He's a competitor, he loves what he's doing. He's going to compete. When you're competing, you are not worrying about anything else, about what anybody else is doing. You're just worried about what you have to do."