Footballs Wide Receivers; Just Divas Or Worth The Drama

Michael Crabtree’s holdout from the San Franciso 49ers got me to looking at the wide receivers in the NFL recently.  These guys are more and more hitting the top of the draft board and the big bucks that come with that.   And there is a crop of big, strong, and fast wide receivers that are almost freakish with their builds and their skills in the game.  But has it gotten out of control with the antics of T.O. and a guy like Crabtree doing what he’s doing?  Well here’s what I think….

First of all, I really can’t stand the antics of T.O.  Sure the guy is unbelievably talented.  But who wants to put up with him.  And mark my words; if Buffalo loses again and he only gets three touches, we will hear long and loud from Owens.

More and more I see these wideouts strutting, dancing, trash talking, and even changing their name to a number, give me a break please.  But how bad is it and how good are these guys really?

First, to quote Laveranues Coles of the Bengals, “There are all theses freak-of-nature guys now…..It’s like they bred ‘em on a farm to come and be these great wide receivers.”  He’s talking about guys like T.O, Andre Johnson of the Texans, Randy Moss, Larry Fitzgerald, and Calvin Johnson of the Lions to name a few.  These guys are all tall, strong, AND fast.

According to NFL people, the guys that use to be tall AND good back in the day just weren’t nearly as fast as the guys now.  So the answer to one of the questions above is yes, they really are that good.  And with their size AND speed, these kind of receivers are really tough for today’s defensive backs in the NFL to cover.

Now as to the drama and the “diva” word and my question of how bad it’s gotten, let’s address that.  After looking at today’s “best of the best” football players at the wide receiver position, I actually think it’s getting better about all this junk.  Yes we have T.O. and Crabtree might be in the same mold, we just don’t know yet.

But I look at Randy Moss, haven’t anything noisy out of him since he left Oakland.  Fitzgerald seems to be a good corporate citizen.   The Johnson boys don’t seem to stir up trouble.  And then there are the great ones who don’t have the physical advantage of these guys but who are still great.  Guys like Hines Ward, Jerry Rice,  the Panthers Steve Smith, are a few of these.  All great players and no drama queens like T.O.

So my bottom line is that the wide receivers are really showing what great athletes they are, they are getting the recognition and the big bucks, and there are more of them coming every day.  And I guess if I have to put up with a T.O. now and then to enjoy watching the rest of these guys, then it’s worth it.

I really feel the trash talking and antics from these guys are going away.  And apparently the players tend to agree.  In a recent Sports Illustrated article, Herman Moore (a great football player himself) said “Trash talk is on the way out.  The younger guys just seem dedicated to transforming the position on the field.”

And it’s really fun to watch for a football nut like myself