"I hate the Jets, so I refuse to support that show."

Tom Brady when asked on Dennis & Callahan about "Hard Knocks." 

"Hell, he knows we hate the Patriots, so what's the difference? My brother's got a couple Super Bowl rings. He loves Tom Brady. But I don't have them, so I don't like Tom Brady. I respect him, but I don't like him."

Rex Ryan

"Brady wouldn't fight me. I'd break his jaw."

Jets offensive lineman Rob Turner

"I don't think its any secret that the Patriots and the Jets don't have a great affection for each other."

Bill Belichick

--

All these quotes were from a Monday in late August. Think the buildup to a Jets-Pats AFC Championship Game would have some juice? 

This is different. This just isn't the way the Patriots play bridge, so to speak.

Yes, the Patriots have been co-stars in the NFL's most notable rivalry of the last decade. I'm absolutely convinced Brady vs. Manning is the closest thing we'll ever see to Bird and Magic again. Have there been unforgettable games between the two teams? Of course. You've got McGinest stopping Edgerrin James at the one-yard line in 2004, "Cut that meat" in Foxboro in  January 2005, the comeback that changed Manning's place in history in 2007 and 4th and 2 from last year. 

It's been almost everything you want in a rivalry. 

Except this: The mutual respect between the two teams has always been a little to close to the surface for my liking. You've never heard Brady say that he hates the Colts. You know why? He probably doesn't. The Colts (for the most part) keep their heads down and play football. Mirror image stuff, which goes a long way in the mutual admiration society thing going on here.

"I like Peyton a lot. He's a guy I've watched over the years and just always admired the way that he plays. His style of play is very much my style of play, so I can understand what he's looking at and why he's doing the things he's doing. I don't know what happened between he and [Reggie Wayne] there at the end, but I couldn't imagine that Peyton thought he would stop running the route either. Reggie is a great player and obviously there was just as miscommunication between the two of them which happens when you have little option routes like it looks like they had there. I felt bad."

That was Brady after the Colts' Super Bowl loss to the Saints. Classy words, full of empathy and clearly coming from a guy who has been there. And it kind of made me want to vomit. 

Don't get me wrong -- I'm all for the high road. Most of the time. But if I'm a Patriots fan I don't want to hear Tom Brady writing a ballad about Peyton Manning's anguish. I want some glee, some solace, some "as long as they didn't win I can at least sleep this offseason but we'll be back next year and we'll beat 'em by 50" kind of quote. 

But that's never going to happen with the Colts and the Pats. Brady and Manning never had the tension Bird and Magic had their first six or seven years in the NBA. Nope, Peyton and Tom don't need to shoot a Converse ad in French Lick to find out how alike they really are and how they really -- down deep -- wouldn't mind being friends. They are way ahead of Larry and Magic in that regard. And Tony Dungy -- and now Jim Caldwell -- didn't make for an easy heavy, it's obvious that Belichick likes both guys. 

Put it this way: The number one target of Patriots fans over the life of this rivalry has not been Manning or Dungy or James or Marvin Harrison or even Bill Polian. It's been the national media. 

That's just not how it's supposed to work. There's supposed to be a Bill Laimbeer, an A-Rod, a Billy Martin. A natural villain.

And that's where the Jets come in.

Rex Ryan is perfect casting for this, really. He's given the Jets a name, a voice and six chins. But he doesn't care what anyone thinks. Perfect. He doesn't like the Patriots and he doesn't mind if his players let it be known that they don't like the Patriots. Rex Ryan goes after every TV camera like he's a 12-year-old with a chance to wind up on the JumboTron. This is a guy that signed his contract extension on TV, the most un-Belichick move ever recorded. And if he's told that Tom Brady hates the Jets the last two words you are going to hear are "no comment." Imagine Dungy saying he didn't (gulp) like Brady? 

And this new rivalry is kind of fun, isn't it? At least for now. The Jets take a step back this year and all credibility is gone. And listen, there is no doubt that Ryan is half-legit, half-schtick, but it's working. Just getting under Brady's skin -- he is usually straight out of the Derek Jeter school of never handing out bulletin-board material -- is an accomplishment.

If the Jets were 4-12 last year all this talk from Rex would be a joke, of course. But the truth is that for first time since Adam Vinatieri put the finishing touches on The Silence of the Rams, the New England Patriots will not enter an NFL season as the no-doubt favorites in the AFC East. It's OK to be a little nervous.

Embrace it. Get worked up over disrespect from the media. Scream "They Backed Into The Playoffs!" at the dopes on the NFL Network. Ask yourself "What has Mark Sanchez ever done?" and wonder how an overrated Jets' offseason has the CBS pregame crew doing the lambada. Get angry when Rex tells the media before the Week 2 game that the Jets are a better football team and how a great defense always beats a great offense. 

The Colts are still around and very much a factor in the AFC picture. That rivalry will continue as long as No. 12 and No. 18 are under center, but for now it takes a backseat. Admit it, the Colts were not the team you looked for when you saw the 2010 schedule for the first time. And when was the last time you could say that?

Week 2 is 26 days away. Think Rex and Tommy will be ready?