A little friendly trash talk

Every NFL team has that one player who appears to do everything the right way. He works hard, he's never a distraction, he's usually a veteran and naturally a fan favorite. These are the guys who have all the right answers in interviews, they are generalized as a class act and a model citizen. Whatever team you root for, you can think of that one guy. In Pittsburgh, its Charlie Batch, in Indianapolis its Peyton Manning, in Tampa Bay its Ronde Barber and the list goes on.

In Baltimore, that guy is 14-year veteran, Derrick Mason. At the age of 36, Mason is still a very productive wide receiver. He is a professional, lead by example type of guy, which is why he is one of the Ravens team captains. With that being said, I was a little shocked at his comments following a victory against the Miami Dolphins last week.

Apparently, Ravens fullback Le'Ron McClain and Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder were on the verge of fighting each other, before teammates broke them up. It is hard tell what was said, but what we do know is that the two locked face mask, and had a few words for one another.

After the game, Channing Crowder was in rage and very few people knew why. In a post game interview, he said, "Le'Ron McClain spit in my face. He spit in my face. That's some real ho s---. So if you talk to him, go tell him. And if he ever comes to Miami, he's got to see me." Those are very strong words, leading me to believe that maybe Le'Ron McClain really did spit in his face. Naturally, McClain denied the accusation and didn't fire back at Crowder.

Ravens wide receiver Derrick Mason was interviewed after the game and asked what he thought about the accusations. This is the shocking part of the story. In response to Crowder calling Mason "the old man," Mason astonishingly responded out of character. He said, "Crowder was still peeing on himself when I was playing football." He later followed that with these harsh words...

"You have to be able in this sport to be able to back up what you talk, and for some reason this guy every time he says something he doesn't back it up...He's not a marquee player. I don't think they even want him on this team, but they have no one to replace him. So he has to be there...He's in the game, and he's getting knocked down. He's getting pushed out of the way. The guy is horrible. Honestly, the guy is horrible. He's probably a good guy. Not taking that away from him, but he's horrible. He's not a good football player. Honestly, he needs to go back and watch the film and humble himself and not say anything."

Wow, I would have never expected Derrick Mason of all people to have that reaction to a conflict, that really didn't concern him. I'm surprised that someone that has built such a class act reputation would waste his time and trash talk to Channing Crowder (who is historically known, for talking trash and not backing it up). I know trash talking is part of the game, but off the field you don't demean another mans career. If Le'Ron McClain didn't care enough to give a response, why did Mason? I found this whole situation comedic and eye-opening. Two lessons have been learned...never spit in a mans face and maybe these athletes aren't exactly who we think they are.