I almost always ignore the trash talk leading up to NFL games. While I'll give it a quick read, I generally never write anything about it. Any player can talk all they want, but ultimately, it's their play on the field that does the real talking. The Patriots go by this philosophy, and so do I: I generally spend my time going over X's and O's rather than on the hype/trash-talking leading up to any particular game. That doesn't mean I won't ever have any fun throwing in a couple of jokes or foot references (I was trying to find a place to put in "footnote," but I failed), but I try not to get to caught up in all of that while blogging. Still, there's always examples when someone goes too far, and today, that has happened with Jets linebacker Bart Scott.
Despite the league sending out a memo for the players to keep all of the "chatter" down, Jets linebacker Bart Scott took the trash-talk one step further this morning. In response to Wes Welker's eleven "foot" references in his news conference, Scott said the following, according to Newsday:
But Bart Scott thinks Welker crossed that line. And the Jets linebacker has an important message for the wide receiver, whom the Jets will face in Sunday's AFC divisional game against the Patriots in Foxborough, Mass.
"I'll tell you what," Scott told Newsday on Friday. "Be very careful what you say about our coach. His [Welker's] days in a uniform will be numbered. Put it like that."
And with that, all of this has gone too far. Scott clearly crossed the line of what's considered acceptable. There is no case where a player should be allowed to physically and publicly threaten a fellow NFL player. Certainly, the officials will now be monitoring Scott's actions on Sunday, and a fine shouldn't be out of the question. What Scott did is completely inappropriate, and the NFL really should put their foot down on this issue (yeah, I had to).
While Antonio Cromartie's comments were immature and childish (certainly he can come up with something better than name calling and finger pointing), Scott's were even more out of line, and something needs to be done about it.
All of this being said, I don't want it to seem like I'm someone who doesn't enjoy a little bit of trash talking. Can Jets coach Rex Ryan be a little annoying? Yes. But ultimately, his trash talking is harmless, and is probably a nice change of pace for the league. And if he thinks it works as a motivational tool for his team, then so be it. He just needs to keep players such as Scott in line.