Tom Brady won his fourth Super Bowl ring with the New England Patriots last Sunday, but that doesn't impress Hall of Fame linebacker Charles Haley.
Haley said he "lost all respect" for Brady when asked if he'd take the New England signal caller over Joe Montana, who Haley won two Super Bowls with as a member of the San Francisco 49ers.
"Joe didn't have to cheat," Haley told the Talk of Fame Network, according to ESPN. "I've lost all respect [for Brady]. When your integrity is challenged in the game of football, to me, all his Super Bowls are tainted."
He continued: "You have to say this just didn't happen overnight. Who wants that shadow over them? I could be wrong. But I realize there were 12 balls deflated and 12 ain't. Then you've got [Patriots coach Bill] Belichick coming on three different times trying to explain it ... You know something is wrong."
Haley was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year and will be enshrined in August. The linebacker won five Super Bowls in his career -- two with Montana and the 49ers and three with the Dallas Cowboys.
Haley was on hand as the Patriots, who have been chastised for the Deflategate scandal in the AFC Championship Game that brought them to Super Bowl XLIX, topped the Seattle Seahawks 28-24.
The Hall of Famer was highly critical of the Patriots coming off of Deflategate and its predecessor Spygate.
"This is what Charles Haley believes -- it's going to come back to haunt him one day," Haley said. "If the league doesn't come down on this guy. ... Everybody is talking about it. Nobody believes it was by accident. It is what it is.
He added: "I'm not going to take any of his Super Bowl rings away from him. But it's sad that it has to be tainted like it is right now. Hopefully they'll come out and let us know what really happened. Then all the mystery is gone."
The NFL said on Jan. 23 that evidence shows that the Patriots used under inflated balls during their 43-7 victory over the Indianapolis Colts to win the AFC championship last month. The league said before the Super Bowl that the investigation is still underway and no conclusions or timetable is set for it.
The Patriots and Brady have been at the center of controversy, but the New England quarterback was selected as the MVP of Super Bowl XLIX.
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