Byron Cowart on Tom Brady’s return worth a laugh, fuel for QB

Byron Cowart spoke out on Tom Brady’s upcoming return to Foxborough and his comments have produced mixed feelings. 

New England Patriots defensive end Byron Cowart is well aware that former Patriot and reigning Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady is returning to Foxborough this year.

Now a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Brady, a seven-time Super Bowl champion, is coming home to the team that drafted him in 2000 and hauled in six Super Bowl championships in his tenure.

Cowart, on the other hand, sounded off on whether or not Brady would be given a ceremony upon his return, similar to what Peyton Manning received after leaving Indianapolis for Denver and returning, coincidentally, on a Sunday night as well for a game (per CBS Sports):

"“He’s coming back, but he’s coming back as an opponent, so I’m going to treat it like any opponent. We ain’t welcoming him; we just got to play him. There ain’t going to be no damn ceremony for him or nothing like that.”"

Whoa, that’s a mouthful. As always, there are several sides to this. On one side, you will have Patriots fans who agree. They will see him as an opponent and only focus on that aspect. There are then those who will root against him on the field but will be gracious enough to applaud and thank Brady for his services, which by the way, were rather special.

Then there are those who will root for the Patriots to the end and have a soft spot for Brady as his story is remarkable.

Byron Cowart has made his voice clear, making this upcoming matchup with Tom Brady all the more tantalizing.

If you didn’t think that the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers game on Week 4 Sunday Night could get any more interesting, it most certainly did. In fact, the city of Boston is bound to be buzzing that one of their heroes will be returning and bringing some notable faces with him, including Rob Gronkowski and Antonio Brown.

Nonetheless, even if New England chooses not to have a ceremony for Brady, the least they could do is thank him before the game with a simple message if they don’t want to do a video. After all, when he was there, he was considered the face of the franchise and won some Super Bowl rings for them.

As for Cowart, he made his opinion clear. But he’s got to back it up. However, if New England does have a ceremony for Brady like what Manning received, it will be interesting to see if Cowart is on the field or chooses to wait in the locker room and not be part of those festivities.