Jim Brown on LaDainian, the Giants and the Patriots on FOX GameTime React with JT "The Brick"

LOS ANGELES, January 24, 2008 – Legendary Pro Football Hall of Famer Jim Brown joined JT “The Brick” on FOX GameTime ReAct yesterday, January 23, and discussed criticism of LaDainian Tomlinson’s effort in the AFC Championship game, as well as the Giants and Patriots leading up the Super Bowl. Below are highlights from the interview…

On the criticism LaDainian Tomlinson is receiving…

Brown: “Well JT, you asked me the most controversial question, I have to give an honest answer. I love LaDainian, but he looks so comfortable sitting there. And then you have his quarterback out there giving everything he had, and it was a contrast between the two visually that when you looked at him and you looked at Phillip Rivers, you said well damn, what does this contrast? We don't know how bad Tomlinson was hurt. But, the thing in football is that if you say you can't cut, well you run straight ahead, be a decoy. You go out on the field in the redzone they're going to have to worry about you. So you have to participate and some of that has to be on the field if you can walk. So I don't get with all the other critics, I love the kid, he's a good kid, but I can't buy the fact that he was not on that field in some capacity.”

On what he would have done in that situation…

Brown: “Well you don't even want to go there JT, I had a broken wrist, a broken toe, you can always not go in the game and you can pretty much go in until you can't. It's hard to talk for another person in that capacity, but some guys would be out there in his same position, but it doesn't mean that he wasn't hurt to a point that he felt he couldn't contribute. We can't take it but so far. If I speak for myself, one of the biggest things that I ever did and proud of is I never missed a game. I could have missed three or four of them, but that has nothing to do with anybody else's situation because mine was very personal, my attitude is very personal and the injury that I had was very personal. I just never wanted to miss a game. I did the best I could with a broken toe.”

On the Giants’ aggressive defensive linemen…

Brown: “You got it JT. That line that the Giants have is very dominate, a lot people don't understand what that brings. They have one of the best groups of athletes up there that you have ever seen. They are prone for an upset, they're in a perfect position for an upset, but I don't think they're going to get it.”

On the Patriots and Bill Belichick having an extra week to prepare…

Brown: “I'll tell you what. When they went to the running game at the right time, and when people start talking about Randy Moss catching only one pass and all that stuff, the Patriots don't care about all that. They're going to find the weakness and they're going to deal with it. And you as a star on that team, if you don't touch that ball, you're going to have to shut up and do your job. And when you set up an organization that way, it means you don't have a Terrell Owens pouting that he's not getting any balls and all those kinds of things. You have a team that says the only chance of winning is to do this and this is what we're going to do. The Patriots have proved these last four or five weeks that they're vulnerable, but they've also proved that they're a brilliant team because they have a team concept and no individual is bigger than the team and they prove it week by week.”

FOX GameTime ReAct with JT “The Brick” is nationally syndicated by the FOX Sports Radio Network and can be heard Monday through Friday from 10 p.m. - 2 a.m. ET/7 -11 p.m. PT on nearly 180 radio stations.

Contact: Rachel Nelson
FOX Sports Radio
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