In light of the recent Terrible Towel stomping incident that occurred in Nashville this past Sunday and some of the backlash that has filtered through, we decided to come up with out list of the 5 most idiotic “thems are fightin’ words” moments in the NFL in recent memory. Really, the NFL - more than seemingly any other sport - has guys getting angry or finding extra motivation from the silliest things. How could the Steelers possibly be any more motivated if the travel back to Nashville with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line?
It’s going to get you more pumped up to be angry about a guy stomping on a yellow towel than the idea that a win gets you to the Super Bowl? Honestly.
TOP 5 BEST “THEMS ARE FIGHTIN’ WORDS” MOMENTS IN THE NFL
(5) Ravens defense gets fired up over text message - Yeah, that’s right. Rookie running back for the Steelers Rashard Mendenhall, about to get his first start earlier this season, sent a text message to his buddy Ray Rice, who plays for the Ravens. The message said something to the effect that Mendenhall would have a big game against his buddy’s team. Rice shared that text message with the Ravens’ defense. Apparently, Baltimore had not planned on slowing down Mendenhall until they received word of the text. Lineback Bart Scott said, “He said later that he was just joking, but it’s too late. Thanks for the bulletin-board material, rookie.” Yikes!
Real life equivalent: One recently out of college architect sends his former classmate a text saying that his firm has a good plan for a bid on a certain downtown building. The guy who receives the text shows it to his new co-workers at the architecture firm who then decide they will really try hard now to win the bid on that building. Because before that text went around, they really weren’t trying to do their jobs as best they could with money on the line.
(4) Now retired Warren Sapp calls the Wildcat formation “disrespectful” - Um, we’re not really sure what’s going on. Here’s the quote from Showtime’s “Inside the NFL”: “This is disrespectful to all defenses. It’s disrespectful. You’re taking the best player in the game, the quarterback, and you’re putting him out wide, outside the numbers, and you put the running back in the back.” Never mind that Ronnie Brown of the Dolphins ran for 113 yeards, scored 4 tds and threw one more out of the Wildcat formation in a 38-13 win over New England. Maybe there is some truth to that, though, because allowing a guy to account for 5 touchdowns in one game is not all that deserving of respect. But maybe Warren Sapp is old school - maybe he even hates the forward pass. Who knows?
Real life equivalent: One doctor who is about 80 telling a younger doctor that using laser surgery is disrespectful to the field of medicine.
(3) Vince Young feeling disrespected when his Wonderlic score was discussed - It was pretty big news heading up to the draft that Young had an abysmal score on the intelligence test that draftees take to help NFL teams evaluate them. Young, who was near the bottom all-time in his score, had this to say, “It hurts a little bit, and I think it’s very disrespectful. But it’s cool, it’s cool. I know what I can do, and I’m going to continue doing what I’m doing.” It’s part of the draft process, and Vince did a horrible job on the test - those are facts, not any kind of disrespect. In fact, we say his score on the test showed disrespect to Wonderlic, whoever that is.
Real life equivalent: Not studying for an exam in college, then feeling disrespected when you fail the exam and have to re-take the class.
(2) Chargers mad and disrespected when Patriots perform “Lights Out” dance on logo - In the 2007 playoffs, the Patriots traveled into San Diego and upset the Chargers. After the win, some of the Pats players performed Shawne Merriman’s signature dance - named “Lights Out” - at the Chargers’ midfield logo. LaDanaian Tomlinson was none too happy and had this to say, “I would never react in that way. I was very upset. When you go to the middle of our field and start doing the dance Shawne Marriman is known for, that is disrespectful. They showed no class and maybe that comes from the head coach.” It’s difficult to fathom someone being upset over one grown man imitating another grown man’s dance, but that’s essentially what happened.
Real life equivalent: Two guys are competing on American Bandstand and after one dancer gets more applause, he begins mocking his opponent by imitating his dance. This situation is so absurd, that’s really the best we could come up with.
(1) Joey Porter is offended by Seahawks tight end Jerramy Stevens wanting to win - Porter is well known for running his mouth and being an idiot, but this one was pretty absurd. In the week leading up to the Super Bowl in 2006 and much talk about this being a homecoming for Jerome Bettis, here’s what Stevens had to say: “It’s a heartwarming story and all that, but it will be a sad day when he leaves without that trophy.” The gall of someone to actually state that he thinks his team will win the Super Bowl! Of course, Porter went on and on for the next 4 days about making guys tap out and how he got “woke up.” Because, obviously, Porter was sleeping through another mundane week in the NFL with the Super Bowl coming up.
Real like equivalent: Defense attorney tells the prosecutor he believes his client is innocent. Prosecutor replies by saying, “I wasn’t even paying attention to this case, wasn’t going to file one motion, but now he woke me up and I’m going to do my job.”