Former Patriot Rodney Harrison appeared on Dale & Holley Monday morning to explain his comments about Tom Brady from Sunday night’s “Football Night in America” telecast on NBC.

During Sunday night’s show, Harrison addressed the roughing-the-passer penalties on the Ravens in the Patriots’ 27-21 victory, and he told Brady to “Take off the skirt and put on some slacks. Toughen up.”

Since then, Harrison has come under fire for the apparent criticism of his former teammate.

Following is the transcript of the interview. To hear the audio, check in at the Dale & Holley audio on demand page.

How are you doing?

Oh, my gosh, it’s unbelievable, the kind of backlash with this.

Tom and I we’ve been friends for years. There’s no other person, no other football player maybe other than Junior Seau that I have more respect for.

I texted Tom and told him, ‘Hey Tom, I’m going to bust your chops a little bit at halftime.’ It was a joke, and everyone’s getting all bent out of shape. This guy’s directly responsible for me having two Super Bowl rings on my fingers, and you think I’m going to call him out? It’s one thing to criticize a guy out if he’s not playing well. But to question a guy like Tom Brady, who I feel like is one of the toughest guys I’ve ever been around … It’s totally absurd, ridiculous, that people would actually think that I would take a shot at Tom Brady.

First of all, that’s not me as a person. A guy that’s worked so hard and has had such an impact on my life, both on and off the field — I just think it’s totally absurd.

Who is attacking you, do you feel like?

I’ve had some 30 text messages and 30 e-mails [saying] some of the Patriots fans are kind of upset at you. The one thing I do stand by: I felt the call was not a good call. I didn’t feel like Terrell Suggs … I thought it was a ridiculous call. That’s what I felt, and that’s what I stand by. But as far as when I jokingly took a shot at Tom Brady, if it’s something that I truly meant, I would stand by it. But I didn’t mean it that way. And Tom knows that. We’re good friends. He texted me four days while I was on the golf course, us just goofing off. It’s just ridiculous that people would think that.

When Tom didn’t play particularly well against the Jets, I said it. I said, ‘Well, Tom’s not where he wants to be. It’s not the old Tom Brady.’ I have no problem with saying that. And he understands that, just like other people should understand that. But when it comes to personally attacking a guy’s manhood, his toughness, especially Tom Brady, I would never do that. We’re good friends, He laughed about it, I laughed about it. And then he ripped me. The funny part [is] he came back and ripped me. And that’s just the nature of our relationship. We’ve always [joked] on the field. If you understood what happened on the field, you would think this is a complete joke. A lot more rough things happened on the field than happened last night.

It seems like it would be only folks outside of New England who wouldn’t understand [it was a joke].

That’s what happens. Because it’s the Patriots, because it’s Rodney Harrison, everyone wants to make a big deal out of it. Everyone wants to try to put a wedge between what the Patriots have. Just a couple of weeks ago when they played the Jets, ‘The Patriots were the worst thing, Tom lost a step, he can’t do it, they lost all their defensive players, they can’t get it done, Welker’s hurt, Moss, he’s lollygagging …’ Everyone wants to break a wedge into the Patriots all of a sudden. And then once they see a former Patriot like me say something about Tom, they want to make it into a big deal. I didn’t attack Tom. It wasn’t meant like that. If I have something to say, I’ll stand by what I have to say. That’s just the outsiders attacking the Patriots as usual.

If they’re not talking about you, the you should get nervous because you’re not making an impact. Do you look at it that way?

That’s not my intention. That fake Twitter account, I had no idea that was going on with Kerry Rhodes. Kerry’s a baller. There’s no question it. The guy can play and I have  lot of respect for him. The guy can play and I have a lot of respect for him. When I came out and said what I said, I just said he’s not the most physical guy. And everybody knows that he’s not the most physical guy. But he’s super athletic, he’s got great instincts, he’s a ball-hawk. I’m not a ball-hawk like Kerry Rhodes. I’m more of a physical guy, when I played. It’s nothing to be mad about.

The whole T.O. escapade, I said what I said about him and I meant it, and I stood by it. And he retorted, he made his comments, which is fine. Players are going to get upset when they get criticized. That’s part of the business. But in this particular [Brady] situation, it’s just the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard because I was having fun with an ex-teammate and it was not meant to be that way at all.

This Patriots defense acts like they’re playing the way you used to play.

They’re a young group of guys and they’re just going to keep getting better and better each and every week. I look at that defense and I know they have some veteran players like Jarvis Green and Vince Wilfork and Ty Warren, but really, the guy that stands out to me is Brandon Meriweather. He has taken a role of leadership and saying, ‘You know what, I’m going to be the difference-maker.’ He’s flying all over the field. I couldn’t give this guy enough praise. I’m so proud of Brandon, really taking over that secondary, and taking over that defense, playing with a lot of confidence, and having fun playing. And that’s what I like to see. I saw the Patriots blitzing. They look like they were having a good time. They’re only going to get better, the more they communicate with one another, the more time they spend together with one another, they’re only going to get better.

How did you reconcile [being a former player who will say things current players won't like]?

I don’t know, Mike. My personality is my personality. I’m walking into this media thing after playing football for 30 years. I don’t know what the heck I’m doing. I’m just out there trying to talk football, trying to have a little fun. Whether I’m doing this for a year or 30 years … whatever happens, happens. I’m just trying to have fun. This is just another opportunity for me when I was done playing football

I’m just being myself. The way I approached interviews with the media, and things that were brought up during the week or after a game, I try to approach now that I’m a part of the media. Try to be professional, try to give people their respect, and stand up. If you believe in something, say it, speak it and stand by it. That’s the way I’ve been as a player and that’s the way I’m trying to do it now. But I’m definitely not trying to draw any attention to myself. You guys know me. Off the field, I’m a pretty shy person. I don’t like a lot of attention. But football is what it is. Guys are making a lot of money. Guys have a lot of pride. They don’t like being criticized. We have a certain pride and arrogance about us. We don’t like being criticized. But whenever someone criticized me, I used that as motivation to get better, to drive me even more. And that’s players need to do. Stop focusing on what people are saying about you and focus on what you can do to get better. Because we all can get better.

Are you enjoying it, the job you’re doing now?

Each week I’m starting to get more and more comfortable, I’m starting to have a little more fun with it. So, yes, the answer to your question is yes.

One Comments for “Rodney on D&H: ‘It was a joke’”

1. bob Says:
   October 5th, 2009 at 4:39 pm

   Well, Rodney, were your fellow players just joking when they voted you the dirtiest player in the game? Rodney, you have retired, your spotlight has gone out so just move on into oblivian. As a talk head you first took on T O who you could never cover now you try to take on Brady. You’ve become a looser.

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