Darrelle Revis: Former Patriots CB Ty Law 'has been a mentor through my whole life'
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When Darrelle Revis takes the field for the Patriots this season, there's a possibility he may have a discussion with safety Adrian Wilson to see if Revis can convince Wilson to relinquish the number he's worn in past seasons in New York and Tampa Bay, as well as the number of a player he apparently holds a lot of admiration for.
According to Revis, former Patriots defensive back Ty Law, who wore number twenty-four during his career in New England, has apparently been a mentor throughout the veteran's life and the two still communicate even now.
"Ty has been a mentor through my whole life," Revis told reporters on Monday. "He’s a very close friend to my family. We had a conversation. It is not about the situation I’m in at hand, but I talk to Ty all the time – about life and football. I can’t get into details of even what me and him talk about.
"I’m just happy that he was there, he’s on my side and if I can bounce questions off of him and ask him certain things because he has a lot of experience then that’s what I can do. Ty’s always there in my corner to help me whether it’s football or life. I thank Ty for that. I’m sure he’s not listening, he’s not on the call but I’ll tell him that later."
After losing free agent cornerback Aqib Talib to the Denver Broncos, the Patriots surprised everyone after they were able to quickly get a deal done to bring Revis into the fold. Law is a local analyst for Comcast Sports New England and was pleased with the move, telling USA TODAY that Revis was an "upgrade" over Talib.
"Darrelle is an upgrade," said Law. "No disrespect to Aqib, who is a great corner in his own right. But outside of Denver in the AFC, who else do you see besides the Patriots?"
Law also said he had never seen Revis happier.
"He's ecstatic," said Law. "He's in a damn good place -- able to get paid and play for a championship team, especially after going through that tumultuous (4-12) year in Tampa Bay. Playing in New York, he smelled a Super Bowl a couple times. He can taste it right now."
Revis admitted during the process that when he was released by the Buccaneers, he and his agent weighed their options before ultimately making the decision to come to New England. Revis felt that the oppoortunity to play for a winning program ultimately was the deciding factor.
"We had to weigh our options," Revis explained. "It was a lot of stuff going on after I got released, teams calling and we had to weigh our options. Me and my agents had to weigh our options. We felt like New England was the best place. They’re a winning program, they’re a winning organization and we wanted to be a part of it. I know the New England Patriots very well from playing against them when I was a Jet and we just felt like this is the right situation for me. Everything fell into place."
For now Revis is trying to get settled and begin the process of getting acclimated into New England's system. He's somewhat familiar with their personnel, and the goal over the next few months is to try and start getting comfortable before they begin work during OTA's as he begins the process of preparing for the 2014 season.
"As of right now, I’m just trying to focus on being a Patriot right now," said Revis. "Everything has happened so fast over the last couple days, so I’m still trying to soak everything in. I know we’ve got Brandon [Browner], I know we’ve got [Devin] McCourty and Logan Ryan. We’ve got some great talent back there. But as of right now, I’m still trying to soak it in and look at the next step ahead and that’s OTAs right now."
One question obviously is the health of his surgically repaired knee, which Revis said hampered him early last season but got stronger as the season progressed. However, he doesn't expect it to be a problem, and he's just excited to get back on the field to start the next chapter of his career.
"It was a long process," Revis said of his rehabilitation. "I did finish all 16 games. I was slow and maybe sluggish in the beginning of the season but week to week, I got stronger and stronger. Toward the end, I probably felt my best as a football player.
"That’s a thing where it took some time and I thank [the] Tampa Bay Buccaneers for everything they did to help me with my rehab throughout the course of the year. It was a big process to get through that and fight through it but right now I feel great. I’m just ready to play ball."
