Terrell Owens Says He Was Joking When He Called Tom Brady, Patriots Cheaters

After calling New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady "cheaters" Tuesday, soon-to-be Hall of Fame wide receiver Terrell Owens backed off his comments and said he was joking.

In an interview with TMZ Sports, T.O. said he was being "tongue-in-cheek" when he initially commented on the Pats:

Owens went on to say, "What they've accomplished, you can't take anything away from what they've done."

Earlier Tuesday, Owens was having a conversation with former NBA guard Sam Cassell. Owens accused Cassell of cheating during a pickup game of basketball and said the following: "I beat you, Sam. I beat you. I beat you. Nah, I ain't cheat you. You sound like the Patriots. I don't care about the Patriots. Belichick, Brady—they cheaters. They cheated. They cheated."

Owens said Cassell is a big fan of Brady, which is why he used Brady, Belichick and the Patriots as an example to bust his friend's chops.

The Patriots' run-ins with the NFL league office are well-documented, though, dating back to the Spygate scandal in 2007 when it was found that the Patriots were illegally taping defensive signals made by New York Jets coaches.

The Deflategate scandal followed just over seven years later when the NFL determined Brady was responsible for deflating game balls to illegal levels.

Brady was suspended four games for the infraction.

Although the Patriots' morals have been questioned at times over the years, there is no denying their success, as Belichick and Brady have won five Super Bowls together.