Trash talking is evident in every sport. However, players and coaches in the National Football League seem to do it more frequently and less intelligently.
Now, I fully understand that trash talking is a part of strategy, but when you use it every week it loses its effect.
There are 32 teams in the NFL. And there is only one team with a coach who calls out his opponent weekly. New York Jets coach Rex Ryan is only in his third season as a head coach and he is becoming better known for his media comments than his impressive 31-17 record.
However, when one exa-mines Ryan’s press conference quotes he appears to be singling out one opponent in particular, division rival New England Patriots, and more specifically, poster-boy quarterback Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick.
In a press conference on Jan. 5 (the week of the AFC Wild Card game) Ryan complimented his opposing team’s quarterback Peyton Manning while simultaneously taking an unnecessary shot at Tom Brady by saying, “Nobody studies like him (Manning). I know (Tom) Brady thinks he does.”
Ryan also made a comment that the game was “personal this time” between himself and Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. However, I don’t know how personal Ryan was expecting the game to be since he is only a coach and not on the field.
With no surprise, Ryan was back at it again last week while preparing for the team’s divisi-onal championship game against the league’s best team (record-wise) New England Patriots.
Ryan said, “There’s no question, it’s personal. It’s about him against himself. That’s what it’s going to come down to.”
For those unaware of the greatness of Bill Belichick, his résumé reads to the tune of 116-45 career record with the Patriots, and a 15-4 postseason record and, oh yeah, try not to forget his four Super Bowl appearances. He won three of the four. Throughout his career he has been the mysterious coach who tries his best to stay out of the media headlines and keep his team focused on executing on game day.
That was until last week, when Belichick who responded to Ryan’s comment said, “I don’t think you’ll see either of us out there making any blocks, tackles, runs, throws or catches. At least you won’t see me doing that. It’s probably a good thing for our team.”
The bottom line is that in the long run trash talking does not help. Instead, it makes you look like a big mouth and riles up your opponents who will feed on anything possible to give them that extra motivation to make you eat your words. Especially when the last time you played them you lost 45-3.
