Dirty Play or Sour Grapes? You make the call!

Earlier in the week, San Diego Chargers center Nick Hardwick accused Patriots defensive lineman Richard Seymour of being a dirty player.

“Richard Seymour is the biggest (expletive) I've ever come across in football,” Hardwick said. “They've got 10 good football players on that team. Richard Seymour is a dirty, cheap little pompous (expletive). “He's cheap and dirty, and the head man just let him get away with it the whole time."

In response, "I think the people that know me best know that’s something that’s totally bogus," Richard Seymour said, noting that his focus was moving forward to the Giants. Belichick said: “I was surprised. That’s the last thing I would say about Richard.”

Now offensive lineman Matt Light is getting a similar rap from New York Giants defensive lineman Osi Umenyiora.

"But he did a couple of things that he shouldn't have done, and you know, now we are really going to go at it," Umenyiora told Bob Costas on HBO's Inside the NFL.

The Boston Herald reported, when asked if he considers the Patriots a dirty team, Umenyiora stopped short. "I wouldn't call them a dirty team. I wouldn't say that. I haven't really experienced them as a team to be dirty. They have certain individuals, like I am sure we have certain individuals, who are perceived to be dirty, but people wouldn't call them a dirty team."

In reponse, Matt Light had this to say: "I don’t think he was trying to say that I did something one way or the other. I think the bottom line from that conversation was that we had a very physical game, we both got after it and went to the whistle and then some, and that’s the kind of game it was. Other than that, I think it was a typical conversation to have with the guy. ... I think what he meant was that we had a pretty good matchup, we had a lot of fun out there; I just think it came out wrong."

Dirty Play or Sour Grapes? You make the call!