Chargers great throws shade at Mike Vrabel ahead of Patriots clash

During a Divisional Round playoff matchup back in 2007 between the New England Patriots and the San Diego Chargers, Mike Vrabel ignited a beef that appears to remain almost two decades later.

After Vrabel sacked Chargers quarterback Phillip Rivers, forcing a fumble which was recovered by Patriots linebacker Tully Banta-Cain, he got up and mimicked the signature celebratory dance of San Diego's All-Pro linebacker, Shawne Merriman.

With these two franchises now set to square off again in another Divisional Round game on Sunday night, the play has been resurfacing on social media, and Merriman has made it clear he's still not happy about the now-Patriots head coach stealing his move.

Other former Patriots greats joined Vrabel in mocking Merriman's dance

After New England secured a 24-21 upset victory over the one-seeded Chargers, a few Patriots players joined Vrabel in parodying Merriman's well-known "Lights Out" celebration, including team Hall of Famers defensive tackle Vince Wilfork and wide receiver Troy Brown.

The taunting ultimately led to a postgame scuffle and some verbal barbs traded between the two teams. Chargers Hall of Fame running back LaDainian Tomlinson called the incident "disrespectful." At the same time, Vrabel himself suggested the conflict stemmed from comments made by San Diego head coach Marty Schottenheimer, adding, "You've got to be real careful what you say about another team."

Merriman expanded on his feelings over those exchanges after the postseason contest in a X post made the day before he reacted to Vrabel's sack celebration, saying he was "p*ssed" when he found out about what the Patriots players had been doing.

Merriman walks back social media posts, but picks the Chargers to win on Sunday

After Merriman's comments on social media this week were written about by Danny Jaillet of Patriots Wire, the former three-time Pro Bowler took issue with the article's description of him being "sickened" by Vrabel's actions almost 20 years after the fact, calling it "a little over the top."

Though he did caption the initial video of Vrabel's taunt with a vomiting emoji, Merriman later claimed he was just having "fun on social media."

Either way, there appears to be no love lost between Merriman and the Patriots, as the Chargers great believes his former team will pull out a postseason victory against New England this time around. It's a prediction Mike Vrabel and company will, in turn, look to prove wrong on Sunday.