New England Patriots nose tackle Vince Wilfork is known as one of the more straight-talking players in the game, and according to the Boston Herald he didn't disappoint a group of Pats fans who came out to hear him Monday night as part of the team's Hall Speaker Series.
Naturally, Wilfork was asked about the team's favorite division rivals, the New York Jets, and whether Mark Sanchez or Tim Tebow should be the team's starting quarterback.
"Tebow. He's a winner. He's proven," Wilfork said, before backing off a bit from the instant endorsement. "I mean, I'll tell you what, both have positives and negatives. You really can't go wrong. I'm glad I'm not in that boat. Put it like that."
Asked what he would change about the NFL, the ninth-year player out of Miami was equally forthcoming.
"One thing I'd get rid of is the penalties, certain penalties," he said. "I can do without them. You have a guy that's making $30 million a year (the quarterback), but you can't touch him. C'mon, let's be for real now. Me as a defensive lineman, it's OK for somebody to hold me up, and another guy to come and chop my legs, and I can't protect myself. I can do without that. That's probably the main thing. Being able to hit a quarterback good. We need that. We need that back right there.
"But you hurt the franchise of your team if you're allowed to tee off on the quarterback. Because, you know, quarterbacks are wimpy."
That last line was played for laughs, and it got plenty from the crowd of about 150 fans. But Wilfork later backed off his zinger, writing on Twitter that he was only joking when he called quarterbacks wimps.
Wilfork was also pretty funny when asked about trash talking.
"With a lot of trash talking, you lose your breath. You get tired. I don't waste my time," he said. But if I have to, I can."
