6 kinds of trash talkers in the NFL right now
To be clear, there are WAY more than just six.
You know what I love discussing most of all after a championship game? The players? Nah. The coaches? Nah. The game plan? Nah.
The officiating, of course!!
In case you couldn’t tell by my use of the double exclamation point, I’m being sarcastic. A couple months ago, I lamented the inconsistent officiating in the Conference Championship Round and in the Super Bowl. On Sunday, we saw the “ref show” play out in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament. We might as well prepare for a similar fate to befall the men’s tournament on Monday night.
Somehow, though, an even worse narrative emerged from LSU’s win over Iowa, and it centers on trash talk.
Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, amid her many records, was jawing and gesturing all tournament long, much to many fans’ delight. Yet when LSU’s Angel Reese, who set her own records on her way to being named MOP, pulled the same John Cena move on Clark that Clark had used previously, some of those same fans were outraged and called Reese “classless.” That’s not just a double standard. It’s also a dog whistle, considering Clark is white and Reese is Black.
Reese spoke out about the criticism, touching on some of the same points made by South Carolina coach Dawn Staley after her team’s loss to Iowa. WNBA player Natasha Cloud also pointed out the different ways that Black and white players are often talked about and how harmful that is.
I don’t want to tell you how to feel about trash talking in sports — well, other than “don’t be racist,” which is good advice in any situation — but I’ll share my opinion on it, which boils down to my life’s motto: Try not to be a jerk … unless it’s called for.
That might sound simple, but it’s not. Sports are emotional, especially for the athletes themselves. They can get caught up in the moment. It happens! I also find it unnecessary to be mean just because you can be; I don’t think anyone, fans or players alike, should ever forget that those at the other end of their taunts are people too.
That said, there is one universal rule in the world of trash talking, as noted trash talker Chad Johnson put it: Don’t dish it if you can’t take it. And to be fair to Reese and Clark, nothing I’ve seen suggests that they can’t take it. A certain subsect of fans, well, they’re another story.
Speaking of Mr. Ochocinco, the NFL has seen a long list of roastmasters and provocateurs come and go over the years. Every locker room has dozens of guys who are quick with an insult, sometimes in a lighthearted manner and sometimes not.
There’s no way to know how many current players would be considered true trash talkers, so I’m focusing on only six of them, each with his own style — just like Reese and Clark have their own style.
The one who inspires retaliation: C.J. Gardner-Johnson
In his first few seasons with the Saints, defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson’s taunting led to him getting punched by an opponent and a teammate. Both of those players were suspended, but as tends to happen to agitators, Gardner-Johnson faced minimal punishment.
Gardner-Johnson denied that he spit on Javon Wims, but we have seen him cross a line before, whether it was mocking Tarik Cohen’s height or saying that Wims hit like “a female.” Most of the time, though, he’s simply a Grade-A instigator:
He brought that same fire to him when he was traded to Philadelphia, where not even his own coach was safe from being dragged. Will the same thing happen with the Lions, whose head coach looks like he bench presses Mack trucks for fun?
I mean, probably. It’s not like Gardner-Johnson has ever been shy about sharing what’s on his mind.
The one who plays the heel: Eli Apple
In 2016, the Giants drafted cornerback Eli Apple with the 10th overall pick, a little higher than he was projected to go. While he put together a decent rookie season, he struggled on and off the field in his second year. After the season ended, Apple, somewhat tellingly, went on a Twitter rant and claimed he’d “rather be hated than loved.”
And that has pretty much been his personal brand since. So fans weren’t too upset when the Giants traded Apple to the Saints midway through the 2018 season. His tenure in New Orleans was similarly up-and-down, though probably not as bad as Saints fans think it was because, well, Apple made a lot of enemies in the Big Easy last year. In a since-deleted tweet, Apple called New Orleans the “dirtiest, smelliest city” and shared his disdain for both the Saints and Giants fanbases.
In two seasons with the Bengals, Apple was probably better than he was given credit for, but his mistakes were often amplified due to his high-profile trolling.
Apple is fine with that. As he said this offseason, “I’ll talk my biggest trash. Whether I back it up or don't, it doesn't matter.” Which could also explain why, a few weeks into free agency, Apple remains unsigned.
The one who does back it up (usually): Jalen Ramsey
Jalen Ramsey has been, and will always be, a straight-up hater. It’s not difficult to find multiple timelines and YouTube compilations to back up that statement. He started early in his career when he went after the trash talk king himself, Steve Smith, and no one has been safe since — not future teammates like Tyreek Hill or guys he judged prematurely, like Josh Allen.
Ramsey’s elite play has matched his elite ability to talk smack. He’s a three-time first-team All-Pro, has been named to the Pro Bowl in every year except his rookie season, and helped the Rams win a Super Bowl.
Now he brings that experience and confidence to Miami. Even if he wasn’t at his peak during the 2022 season, Ramsey can easily “bounce back” in 2023 with the Dolphins. Legendary DC Vic Fangio already believes Ramsey could be the best cornerback he’s ever coached.
Just don’t expect Ramsey to be nice on the field. He doesn’t play the game that way — as a fellow Dolphin can attest.
The one most likely to have a teammate’s back: A.J. Brown
A.J. Brown endeared himself to Eagles fans quickly. Just months after he was traded from the Titans, he publicly (and playfully) called out Cowboys pass rusher Micah Parsons during a charity softball game.
You could tell early into his Philly tenure that Brown was already having a blast with his new team. That carried into the season, like when he taunted the Steelers after scoring his third touchdown against them, pointing at the nearest defenders who couldn’t stop him.
After the game, Brown explained, perhaps without realizing it, the mantra of his team in 2022: "Not to throw bad blood on anyone, but we are having fun − this offense, this team, we’re enjoying everyone.”
Still, Brown is human and sometimes he gets chippy or has revenge on his mind. But in the end, he has a lot of love for his teammates, past and present.
So when JuJu Smith-Schuster teased James Bradberry, who was called for the infamous hold in the Super Bowl, Brown was having none of it:
Smith-Schuster might have the Super Bowl ring, but Brown’s response to the “Tik-Tok boy” is devastating. Don’t mess with this man’s teammates!
The one you wouldn’t expect: Tommy Townsend
A lot of different Chiefs players — and even their family members — were hooting and hollering after their AFC Championship win over the Bengals: Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Chris Jones, etc.
So it was quite the surprise when, in the days before their Super Bowl victory, Frank Clark identified another teammate as KC’s biggest trash talker.
That player? Tommy Townsend. The punter.
At first, that might be a bit hard to believe … until you remember that Townsend is the same guy who did this after downing a punt inside the 5-yard line against the Raiders:
He’s earned the right to strut, too. This past season, he was second in the league in yards per punt and first in net yards per punt. For his efforts, Townsend was named a first-team All-Pro, made the Pro Bowl, and was one of the Chiefs’ captains during their playoff run.
But Kansas City only offered him the lowest tender for a restricted free agent, which means if any team is out there looking to upgrade its punting and trash-talking game at the same time, it can try to snatch Townsend away.
The one who’s biding his time: Mac Jones
It’s been more than two years since Mac Jones’ final college game, but his trash talk was so notorious that one member of this spring’s draft class is still raving about it.
You might not have known as much if you had watched Jones most of last season. In a September showdown with the Ravens, Jones got in Patrick Queen’s face after New England scored a touchdown. Whatever Jones said, Queen was not amused:
Unfortunately for Jones, the football gods weren’t laughing either. Jones threw three picks in the loss and later suffered an ankle injury that cost him three games. When he was cleared to return, his sophomore slump continued but his smack talk did not. He finished the year with the league’s fourth-worst QBR among qualified passers (below Zach Wilson!) and was on the receiving end of the funniest play in the 2020s.
This coming season, Jones will have a real offensive coordinator, and if he and the Patriots can rebound, you just know it’s only a matter of time until he’s running that mouth again.