Ex-Patriots champ unloads on Stephen A. Smith, defends Drake Maye

Former two-time Super Bowl champion Chris Hogan called for Stephen A. Smith to "get off the ego train" when addressing the recent controversial comments the ESPN commentator made toward New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye.

Smith called Maye a "liar" last week for saying he didn't know the former NFL MVP turned television commentator, Cam Newton, appeared on ESPN's First Take. During an appearance on WEEI Afternoons, Maye was asked to respond to Newton calling the Patriots' successful run "fool's gold." Maye said that he didn't know what show Newton was on and took the high road by keeping the focus on the team.

However, the fact that Maye said he didn't know Newton was on First Take seemed to irk Smith, who quickly fired back on the television show. Hogan defended Maye in the latest episode of The Patriots Report with Price & Hogan.

"What's Stephen A's show? Get off the ego train, bro," said Hogan. "It really had me really torn up about this because I'm watching this—and I love Cam, I've got nothing bad to say about Cam. And he's kind of going into this new era of his life of being on TV, and I get it. But dude, you know how hard this position is to play regardless of who you're playing against. And at what point did it become the norm for us to try and tear down a 24-year-old kid?

"...And because he didn't, 'I don't even know what show he's on,' and that really got all of these guys all hot in their feelings about it. Like dude, no one [expletive] cares. Like, I get it. I'll turn it on, and it's entertaining and all this kind of stuff, but this kid is 24 years old, he's got a 10-2 football team, he's been having some success. He's not watching First Take on Monday or Tuesday mornings. ...Cam, you know this. You prepared. You did all of this stuff. Maybe you focused on some of this stuff here and there, but you were one of the best players in the league. You didn't care about any of that nonsense."

It's worth noting that Smith did walk back his liar comments (sort of) during an episode of Straight Shooter with Stephen A. While he didn't back down from his ultimate point, he did say he wasn't being serious when calling Maye a liar.

Regardless, the entire segment came off as odd considering the revolving cast of guests on First Take. Unless you're watching the show religiously, it's hard to keep up with the dates and appearances of everyone on the show, outside of Smith.

Hogan continued: "Show a little bit of respect. That is my feeling. 'Oh I got the No. 1 show'—congrats, bro. That's great. Like, all you do is talk [expletive] about guys all day long, guys that work their ass off to get to this stage of their career."

Winning isn't easy in the NFL, no matter what the schedule looks like. The Patriots are a team few picked to make the playoffs in the first year of their rebuild under Mike Vrabel. Maye has developed into one of the best young quarterbacks in the league, and the team currently has the best record in the NFL.

Sometimes, it's okay to simply give credit when it's due.

Follow Patriots Wire on Twitter and Facebook.

This article originally appeared on Patriots Wire: Ex-Patriots champ unloads on Stephen A. Smith, defends Drake Maye