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Biggest 'villains' in Patriots history

From playoff matchups to courtroom sessions, the Patriots have been through their fair share of battles. As a result, there are a lot of people that New England fans do not like.

Let's be clear: Most people on this list aren't bad people (with a few big mouths). Although some (See: Aaron Hernandez) are. Most folks are just players on the other side of the rivalry, and end up playing the 'villain' role for the Patriots.

With that in mind, here's a rundown of who's hated in New England:

(AP Photos)

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Nick O'Malley | nomalley@masslive.com

1. Roger Goodell

Greatest act of villainy: Deflategate

From concussion issues to botching the Ray Rice domestic violence incidence, Goodell is one of the most hated figures in sports. But after the whole Deflategate ordeal and never-ending Tom Brady suspension drama, he may be Public Enemy No. 1 in these parts.

(AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

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2. Jack Tatum - 'The Assassin'

Greatest act of villainy: Paralyzing Darryl Stingley

Tatum was one of the hardest-hitting safeties the game has ever seen -- and had a reputation of perhaps the dirtiest. A big part of that was this hit on Patriots WR Darryl Stingley over the middle, which paralysed Stingley from the waist down.

(AP Photo)

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3. Bernard Pollard

Greatest act of villainy: Being the 'Patriot Killer'

On multiple teams and in multiple seasons, Pollard was the player involved in three of the biggest injuries in the past decade for New England:

Tom Brady (ACL, 2007)

Wes Welker (ACL, 2011)

Rob Gronkowski (Ankle, 2011)

Stevan Ridley (Concussion, 2013)

For three of those, he was the player making the hit. For the Welker injury, though, he was just in the vicinity.

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4. David Tyree

Greatest act of villainy: The Helmet Catch

The Super Bowl XLVI loss and 18-1 disappointment wasn't all Tyree's fault, but he certainly put the exclamation point on it.

Also: It wouldn't be so bad if Patriots fans didn't have to be in constant fear of seeing the replay again and again.

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5. Peyton Manning

Greatest act of villainy: Ruining Patriots playoff runs

His playing days are over, but Brady-Manning was always appointment television, though fans would like to forget the Patriots' last three AFC Championship Game losses to his teams.

(AP Photo)

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6. Aaron Hernandez

Greatest act of villainy: Murder

One of the NFL's most exciting young tight ends for three seasons, Hernandez was found guilty in the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd and is currently serving a life sentence in prison.

(AP Photo)

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7. Eli Manning

Greatest act of villainy: Super Bowl XLIV, Super Bowl XLVI (tie)

There he is: The guy who separates Tom Brady from winning six Super Bowls.

(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

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8. Mario Manningham

Greatest act of villainy: The Super Bowl XLVI sideline catch

Years later, it's amazing to think Eli Manning actually made that throw, and Manningham actually made that catch -- leading to yet another game-winning drive against the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

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9. Mike Kensil

Greatest act of villainy: Being the catalyst for Deflategate

Kensil isn't the most commonly known figure for Deflategate, but the former vice president of operations for the NFL (since reassigned) is often considered the 'driving force' behind the Deflategate investigation, and is reportedly the one the Colts turned to when claiming the Patriots were using under-inflated balls.

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10. The entire 1985 Chicago Bears

Greatest act of villainy: Super Bowl XX

It's hard to pin that entire 46-10 blowout to one person, so the whole team gets the blame here. The Patriots were punching above their weight in getting to that Super Bowl, and the '85 Bears were one of the best teams of all time.

The who game lingers as an ugly mark in Patriots history. It's up to each fan to choose who the real villain of the game was, be it Mike Ditka, Buddy Ryan, Jim McMahon, The Fridge... but probably not Walter Payton.

(AP Photo/Phil Sandlin)

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11. Eric Mangini

Greatest act of villainy: Triggering Spygate

The former Patriots assistant and then-Jets head coach was the one who reported the Patriots' wrongdoing to the NFL. The bridge between him and Bill Belichick was forever burned.

(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

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12. Richard Sherman

Greatest act of villainy: Feuding with Tom Brady

Sherman drew the ire of Patriots fans after the Seahawks beat the Patriots during the 2012 season -- and talked trash to Brady after the game. Sherman's remained in the spotlight since as one of the league's best -- and most vocal -- cornerbacks. That bravado came back around in Super Bowl XLIX, which culminated with how now-legendary reaction to Malcolm Butler's game-clinching interception.

(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

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13. Ted Wells

Greatest act of villainy: The Wells Report

Patriots fans have a lot of issues with Wells and his report that provided the basis for the NFL's punishment from Tom Brady. Both the independence and accuracy of the Wells report is regularly questioned by Patriots fans.

(AP Photo)

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14. Judges Denny Chin and Barrington D. Parker

Greatest act of villainy: Reinstating Tom Brady's suspension

Judge Richard Berman was the one who overturned Brady's four-game suspension for the 2015 season. These two are the ones who re-instated it for 2016, providing the majority for the three judge panel.

(AP Photos)

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15. Desmond Howard

Greatest act of villainy: Super Bowl XXXI kick return

The Patriots had made it a game during the third quarter. Howard's return pretty much took the sails out of that.

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16. Von Miller

Greatest act of villain: Being the guy most people believe tried to rub his privates on Tom Brady's face

Just to be clear: Miller has denied being the player that told TheMMQB that he 'tried to rub (his) nuts' on Brady's face. Still, he's the star of the Broncos pass rush that battered Brady for that whole game. Plus, he's never shied away from post-play celebrations.

(AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

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17. Rex Ryan

Greatest act of villainy: Trying to be Tom Brady's kryptonite

Since the mid 2000s, Rex Ryan has been the engineer of some of the NFL's most complex and dominant defenses -- and been a consistent thorn in the Patriots' side. Whether it's been with the Ravens, Jets and Bills (OK, not the Bills yet), Ryan's teams have been the cause of some of the most disappointing performances in Brady's career.

Normally, this would be fine. But Ryan has a tendency to call out the Patriots at every given opportunity, and regularly declares that he's gunning for them.

(AP Photo)

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18. Ray Lewis

Greatest act of villainy (Besides obstruction of justice): Playoff nemesis

Lewis was the centerpiece of a lot of great Ravens defenses through from 1996-2012, and gave the Patriots some of the most physical games of the Belichick era (and one of the biggest mouths in the game).

It never helped that Lewis was embroiled in a 2000 murder trial, in which Lewis was charged with two counts of murder but struck a deal to plead guilty to obstruction of justice charges.

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19. John Harbaugh

Greatest act of villainy: Not knowing the rulebook (and a role in Deflategate?)

Harbaugh's had a lot of success as head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, and has had his playoff run-ins with the Patriots. The most notable of those came during the 2014 playoffs, when the Patriots ran out a controversial scheme that employed four offensive linemen to confused the defense. Harbaugh spent much of the rest of the game (and since) complaining about the legality of the offense -- which has since been banned.

Harbaugh is also believed to be one of the parties that tipped off the Colts about the idea that the Patriots were deflating game balls, but he has denied those rumors.

(AP Photo)

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20. Joey Porter

Greatest act of villainy: Talking smack. All the time.

Porter was the (very) vocal face of the Steelers defenses that went up against Brady and the Patriots during their 2001-2004 Super Bowl runs. After Spygate, Porter said that he was 'cheated' in his two AFC Championship Game losses to the Patriots.

(AP Photo)

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21. Hawaii beaches

Greatest act of villainy: Ruining Robert Edwards' career

Edwards, the Patriots' 1998 first round pick, had a promising rookie season, rushing for 1,115 yards and going for 331 more on 35 catches. After the season, though, Edwards was participating in a beach football game at the Pro Bowl. The injury nearly resulted in him having his leg amputated. He came back to play for the Dolphins briefly in 2002, but at that point he career was clearly derailed.

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22. Marshall Faulk

Greatest act of villainy: Never letting the Super Bowl XXXVI loss go

In the wake of the Spygate scandal, a number of players have come out and questioned the validity of the Patriots' Super Bowl wins. Faulk is chief among them. In recent years, the NFL Network analyst has brought up (since debunked) complaints about the team's wrongdoing before Super Bowl XXXVI.

(AP Photo)

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23. Reche Caldwell

Greatest act of villainy: The 2006 AFC Championship Game drop

On a depleted 2006 Patriots offense, Caldwell emerged as the unlikely No. 1 receiver as Tom Brady keep the unit together with bubblegum and duct tape.

That was until the 2006 AFC Championship Game against the Colts, in which Caldwell dropped a wide open pass in the endzone, and another (more infamous) drop when no one was covering.

(AP Photo)

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24. Terrell Suggs

Greatest act of villainy: Hating Tom Brady

Well that and being a vocal adversary during the height of the Patriots-Ravens rivalry.

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25. Mark Brunnell

Greatest act of villainy: Tearfully chastising Tom Brady after Wells Report came out

The first ESPN personality to react to Tom Brady's denial of the Deflategate accusations was former Jaguars quarterback and analyst Mark Brunell, who came close to crying on set as he voiced his problems with Brady denying that he deflated the footballs.