For years, T.J. Houshmandzadeh was seen sometimes and heard rarely as the “other” wideout in the starting lineup of the Cincinnati Bengals. He was perhaps best known as the subject of the “Whosyourmama” commercial for NFL.com’s fantasy football.
Beyond that, there wasn’t much said by or about T.J.
And we’re realizing how much we liked it that way.
Since becoming a free agent and signing with the Seahawks, Houshmandzadeh has become chatty. (Put his name in the search box for his history of comments.)
Most recently, Houshmandzadeh has complained about the extent to which he’s getting the ball. Or, as the case may be, not getting the ball.
“I just got to get these coaches to realize, throw me the ball,” Houshmandzadeh said Friday, according to the Associated Press.
“Maybe I’ve said it too much,” he said. “I just got to show them now.”
Or how about this? Shut up and do your job.
Apart from the fact that they’re not throwing him the ball as much as he’d like, Houshmandzadeh has suggested that he hasn’t been healthy.
“If I was watching myself and I had to cover me, I’d say, ‘I can cover this guy.’ I didn’t like the way I looked,” he said. “I’m feeling pretty good now. I haven’t felt like this since probably the opening of training camp. I’ve had some problems here and there you all don’t know about, and I’m just starting to feel better.”
We’ve got two comments on that point.
First, if we didn’t know better, we’d wonder whether the Seahawks might be fudging the injury report. (But we’ll give them the benefit of the doubt, since no NFL team ever fudges the injury report. Except the Jets. And, well, most of the rest of them.)
Second, the T.J. Houshmandzadeh who’s claiming that he hasn’t been able to get open for most of the year due to injury is the same guy who said before Week Three against the Bears, “I feel like I’m going to get open every play, every time. But that’s not going to be the case. Those guys get paid well. I feel I’m going to win regardless, but I have to be realistic. I feel I’m going to win 95 percent of the time and they can get the other 5.”
So here’s a suggestion for Houshmandzadeh: Shut up and do your job.
Oops, we’re repeating ourselves. That’s almost as annoying as a football player who constantly whines and makes excuses.