Patriots surprisingly praised by former rival player from Chargers

Nick Hardwick, a former center for the Chargers who frequently competed against the Patriots, heaped a great deal of praise on his old adversary.

While members of the media gushing over the New England Patriots is certainly nothing new, what is a bit surprising is when that praise comes from an unexpected and highly unlikely source – as in, a retired NFL player who spent the majority of his career positively despising the Patriots.

Nick Hardwick spent 10 years with the San Diego Chargers snapping the ball to and centering the offensive line in front of Philip Rivers. He struggled with injuries throughout his career, but he was also a dominant enough player to hold onto the starting job throughout that time – and he even earned himself Pro Bowl honors in 2006, too.

Unfortunately for Hardwick as a player, he and his Chargers routinely and repeatedly found themselves on a collision course with the early-dynasty Patriots during those days, as the AFC was largely dominated by the Pats, the Bolts, the Colts, and the Steelers back in those days.

Needless to say, Hardwick didn’t care much for New England, its players, its coaches, or its fans while he was in the NFL. But now that he’s been retired a couple years and has widened his perspective outside his own personal team bias, it seems his thinking may have changed a bit.

“(Tom) Brady has done a great job of allowing us access to him as a human,” Hardwick told NBC Sports’ Peter King in a recent interview. “It’s easy to hate the machine. It’s hard to sustain hatred towards a human. I can’t believe I’m saying this publicly, but I devour any information I can get on the guy. He’s beyond impressive.”

Hardwick didn’t reserve his praise just for the guy playing quarterback, either:

"“And hell, so are the Patriots. There I said it. They are something to marvel at, learn from, and cheer on. Unless they’re playing my Chargers.”"

Once again, it’s exceedingly rare to find anyone outside the New England organization who has something nice to say about the the Patriots. To have this kind of ringing endorsement come publicly – from a former Charger during the LaDainian Tomlinson era, no less – is a testament to the grudging respect this franchise has earned from even some of its most bitter former opponents.