The Denver Broncos and New England Patriots will battle it out on the field this Sunday, but the war has already begun. Well, the war of words, at least.

As heard on the Afternoon Drive with Goodman and ShapiroAntonio Smith made it very, very clear that he believed Tom Brady was a “cry baby,” and teammate Brandon Marshall agreed. They, of course, are referring not to Brady’s actual tears, but his incessant nagging of the officials for any and every call.

As you might expect, Smith and Marshall’s words blew up across the Boston area, quickly reaching the ears of those truly delightful Patriots fans and their team. You’ll never guess which one of them was first to respond …

Gronkowski, tweet

I’m guessing Gronkowski is referring to this hit he took the last time he faced off against the Denver Broncos (at least, I hope that’s what he’s referring to):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF9WOxYrH4I

Or this one from earlier in the game:

Or this one, which came from current Broncos safety T.J. Ward when he was in Cleveland:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBZB1eMBPcs

Now, I’m not surprised if Rob Gronkowski holds some sort of grudge against the Denver Broncos safeties, particularly Ward, but come one, what else are they supposed to do? He’s a 6-foot-6, 270-pound monster! There’s only one way to bring him down — legally — and that’s by going for his knees, even Tom Brady knows that.

All that said, now that everybody has a good deal of bulletin-board material, it’s time for these guys to cut the chit chat and get ready to play some football. Nobody’s going to care if Tom Brady’s a cry baby or if the Broncos give “low blows” when Peyton Manning is driving for a game-winning touchdown with one minute left on the clock.