On Friday, Rosenthal pointed out a brewing feud, Twitter style, between Jets safety Kerry Rhodes and NBC’s Rodney Harrison.
It was a drop in the bucket for Harrison, who has proven in his short time as a member of the media that he’s willing to play with the same raw intensity that characterized his career with the Chargers and the Patriots.
On Thursday, for example, Harrison ripped into Vikings quarterback Brett Favre.
“Everywhere he goes, he craps on everybody,” Harrison said. “He goes to Green Bay and he leaves them with a bunch of noise. He goes to the Jets, they give him a bunch of money . . . he plays bad and he craps on them.”
(Maybe Brett’s new nickname should be “Bevo.” Anyone watching ESPN’s College Gameday as the show returned from a break at 10:16 a.m. ET will know exactly what we mean.)
“When things go bad,” Harrison said of Bevo, “it’s everyone else’s fault.”
But Favre and Rhodes weren’t the only ones to feel Rodney’s wrath. Unsigned 49ers wideout Michael Crabtree also got a taste of it.
Harrison visited on Friday with Mike Missanelli of ESPN 950 in Philly, and Harrison was asked about Crabtree.
“He’s the biggest idiot I’ve ever seen in the National Football League,” Harrison said. “I would have to put Ryan Leaf and him as the two biggest idiots that played in the National Football League or didn’t play in the National Football League.” (And given that Rodney played in San Diego during the blink-and-you-missed-it Ryan Leaf era, Rodney knows idiots when he sees them.)
Harrison goes on to point out that Crabtree has done nothing to deserve what’s already on the table from the 49ers, and Harrison questions whether Crabtree truly loves the game.
As to the notion that Crabtree might re-enter the draft in the hopes of getting himself in line for more money next year, here’s what Rodney had to say: “Trust me, brother, you’re gonna get blackballed, you’re gonna make less.”
If Rodney continues to tell it like it is, he’ll be a long-time fixture on the NFL media scene. Rarely is a former player willing to say, in blunt, candid terms, what many non-players are thinking.
Right now, Harrison and Warren Sapp are the only two that will do it on a consistent basis.
And, of course, if we’re missing anyone, we fully expect to be reminded of it in the comments.
