In hindsight, maybe teams picking from spots one through nine in the April 2009 draft shouldn't have been scared away by the perception (as fueled by the Browns) that receiver Michael Crabtree is a diva.
The reality? They're all divas.
Well, most of them.
We still can't figure out the chicken-and-egg-style question of whether the high-profile position creates divas or attracts them. We think it's a combination of both.
And Don Banks of SI.com recently pointed out that the receiving divas have been even more diva-ish than usual lately.
Meanwhile, the guys who catch passes and keep their mouths shut and out of trouble continue to be overlooked.
It makes sense. Who wants to watch a train that's running smoothly?
Well, after years of watching Ocho Noshow, I would gladly watch a train that's running smoothly.
deadspin actually posted a good rebuttal to the argument, citing studies that show the personality traits of WR do not significantly differ from the average NFL player, let alone the average regular joe.
http://deadspin.com/5297314/note-to-sportswriters-wide-receivers-arent-actually-divas
I think it definitely attracts them. They have to run fast and catch balls. They don't take the repeated punishment of other positions (or most don't anyways).
Go Lions Go Calvin!
"Meanwhile, the guys who catch passes and keep their mouths shut and out of trouble continue to be overlooked."
No player demonstrates this more than Marques Colston.
Come on twinndaddy; he has one bad year without his starting QB ya he could shut up a little but he is one of the best out there.
I think Trent Dilfer REALLY hit the nail on the head when he implied that the media and pop culture helped to create these divas. Ironically, ESPN, Dilfer's employer, has been leading the way FOR YEARS.
Unfortunately, most young people are impressionable creatures who get their behavioral cues from TV, the Internet, etc. When they see T.O., Ochostinko, et al, receive massive amounts of "pub" for their self-centered actions, they think, "Oh, THAT'S how you do it."
To make matters worse, GENERALLY SPEAKING, young people of today are incredibly egocentric. If you check out their Facebook and Myspace pages, it's rather obvious that many youngsters think quite a lot of themselves. A common theme is "The entire world revolves around ME!"
Of course, highly paid athletes who are surrounded by jock-sniffers often take egocentric behavior to even more absurd levels.
I'm glad we have Roddy White. Keep chugging baby.
Just another reason why Andre Johnson is the best WR in the NFL. No drama, no whining - just greatness.
The thing I totally don't get is.....receivers are VERY rarely game-changers on a weekly basis. The truly great ones can carry a team once, MAYBE twice a season. But they are just as likely to put up 20 yards as they are 120. It's so inconsistent of a position, but they act like they are the quarterback.
Thank God for Reggie Wayne. 85 catches, 1200 yards, 9 td's every year. Never complains, always smiling. Just an all-around good guy.
And sure, you can argue that the WR position isn't any worse than the NFL as a whole.....but then you are comparing 5 or 6 players from each team against 40 for all the other positions combined.
Name one specific position that causes as much problem as the WR position.
@JSwerdy
Interesting link, and I think I would agree that most everybody on the football field has a little diva in them. You almost have to be a diva to want to join the circus that is the NFL! There are just as many stories about lineman who feel disrespected by their team as WR.
I found it interesting where the valley lies on that graph (which could have been easier to read, don't you think?). Sensitivity, flexibility, and insightfulness (if I'm reading it right). Out of all those traits, those three seem to be what a diva would lack most, in my opinion!
Thanks for sharing.
Pay Greg Jennings immediately.
Why it creates them:
When you're a running back, you get frequent opportunities to touch the ball, and you only advance it a few yards at a time. You have to work for every inch. A quarterback also gets frequent opportunities, and he has critics and interceptions to keep him humble.
A receiver, however, gets much fewer opportunities than any other skill position, and when he does get the ball, the yardage gains are much more substantial on the average than a running back's. This can lead to the perception that any time the ball goes anywhere else but to him, it's a lost opportunity, not only for the receiver, but for the team. Especially if it's a talented receiver who knows he's a good red zone target, it's easy to see how the mentality of "when I get the ball, we win" develops. The more plays he makes, the more he sees other plays as "wasted" when it doesn't come to him. A wide receiver doesn't have to fight for every inch of yardage gained, where a mighty effort and great strength can be the difference between a 2 yard gain and a 4 yard gain. It's easy for the receiver to think of that as silly when he gets to sprint from the line of scrimmage on every play. And if the quarterback in the huddle wants to "waste" another play with a run up the gut or a throw to another receiver, then what's the point of sprinting on this play? The icing on the cake is that, for the high profile receiver's entire high school and college careers, the ball could be thrown to him 20 times a game effectively.
An offensive lineman knows that the reason his job is important is so that other people can move the chains. For receivers, they only think their jobs are important when they are the ones moving them. When they are not the ones who get the ball, they feel under utilized, and that's the bottom line. Receivers need to learn that the offense works better when they don't get the ball every play. How do you teach them this?
If I were the Bills, I'd have a practice one afternoon where I instructed the quarterback to throw the ball to T.O. on every single play, no matter what. After a couple of big gains that would have T.O. strutting, the defense would start to adjust. He would get jammed hard at the line. Keep throwing to him. He would be facing three defenders. Keep throwing. They would start intercepting the passes. Keep throwing. On every play, the moment the ball reached him, somebody would be there to put a shoulder in his gut.
And when Terrell Owens, king of the divas, opens his pie hole to complain, for the first time in his life, that' he's getting the ball TOO MUCH...
you've got him.
As for why it attracts them, that one is easy: What other position is there where you can get so much attention for so little physical abuse? Or where lots of natural talent with things like height, speed, and desire for the ball can take you so far that hard work to improve isn't nearly as necessary as in other positions?
@BuckFutter
Running backs for one? I'm not sure I'm following your logic on the 2nd part. Isn't it equally as inappropriate to compare 5 or 6 WRs league wide to the 100+ that actually compete in the league (bad math, but just assuming 4 WRs per team = 120+). For every "diva" WR on a team there are likely 3-4 that aren't. Whereas for each RB or QB "diva" there are only 1 or 2 others per team. the fact that WR is one of the deeper positions on any given roster would indicate that the ratio of "diva" to "non-diva" WRs would be bigger (or smaller, not sure the proper mathematical description, but basically 1:5, as opposed to a 1:3) than a comparable ratio of "diva" RBs to "non-diva" RBs.
@ We_Miss_You_Dan
Definitely an interesting correlation, which I think can be explained by society's cultural values for athletes. These kids are coddled from their youth, constantly pandered too by those around them, which could explain the latter two (inflexibility and lacking insightful nature). Most of these athletes grow up never being contradicted by those around them, they get what they want because their talent represents a future payday to friends, family, coaches, and schools. They aren't accustomed to compromise, because they usually get what they want, and they are generally never challenged in the academic settings because schools fear risking their athletic eligibility. As for sensitivity, this might just be the nature of the game. It takes a certain type of individual to suit up and engage in such physical punishment day to day.
@ Humpty Dumpt
I just wanted to comment on your last point. I think that's a major misconception (that WRs don't need as much hard work to succeed). If that were the case, then wouldn't more rookie WRs have immediate impacts? Instead, it's generally accepted that WRs take 3 years to reach NFL readiness. RBs on the other hand, can come in and not only be effective as rookies, but dominate. These 3 years for WRs require intense work and preparation to learn and perfect routes, hand/feet positioning and techniques to avoid/break away from contact. If anything, WR could be seen to require much more individual work than a RB (who really just gets out there and runs. the plays for running backs aren't nearly as complicated and work intensive as those for WRs).
@ Humpty Dumpt
That's an very interesting take on the subject and well done. I could nit pick or disagree a bit (I think practically every NFL player works hard and gets hit hard or they don't last), but in general, it all sounds quite logical to me.
"JSwerdy says:
June 20th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
@BuckFutter
Running backs for one? I’m not sure I’m following your logic on the 2nd part. Isn’t it equally as inappropriate to compare 5 or 6 WRs league wide to the 100+ that actually compete in the league (bad math, but just assuming 4 WRs per team = 120+). For every “diva” WR on a team there are likely 3-4 that aren’t. Whereas for each RB or QB “diva” there are only 1 or 2 others per team. the fact that WR is one of the deeper positions on any given roster would indicate that the ratio of “diva” to “non-diva” WRs would be bigger (or smaller, not sure the proper mathematical description, but basically 1:5, as opposed to a 1:3) than a comparable ratio of “diva” RBs to “non-diva” RBs."
5 or 6 league wide? Name ONE team in the NFL that has a WR that hasn't had some sort of P.R. issue, be it holding out, being an ass on the field, or being involved in something distracting off the field. There are, at best, 4 or 5 certifiably asinine QBs in the NFL (probably more, but they keep it under wraps) out of 2-3 per team. Conservatively, we're talking 5 bad apples out of roughly 75 NFL QBs. A rate of less than 7%. Wide receivers? Again, we'll be conservative and say one bad apple per team, out of roughly 5.5 per team....that's a rate of 18%. And running backs also aren't anywhere near as bad as WRs.....even though they actually would have a reason to be, since they play a WAY bigger role on a week-by-week basis.
Jimmy Smith wasn't a diva. He just wanted to enjoy his blow in peace.
I would rather watch a train running smoothly.
These "me" divas get me sick. Their antics are the type of things that make me turn the channel.
While the media might cream all over these guys, I don't. I don't waste my time watching them.
I turn the channels.
I'd rather watch a guy like Calvin Johnson or Fitzgerald any day of the week.
"Yeah, we should have used hindsight...."
"BuckFutter says:
June 20th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
5 or 6 league wide? Name ONE team in the NFL that has a WR that hasn’t had some sort of P.R. issue, be it holding out, being an ass on the field, or being involved in something distracting off the field. There are, at best, 4 or 5 certifiably asinine QBs in the NFL (probably more, but they keep it under wraps) out of 2-3 per team. Conservatively, we’re talking 5 bad apples out of roughly 75 NFL QBs. A rate of less than 7%. Wide receivers? Again, we’ll be conservative and say one bad apple per team, out of roughly 5.5 per team….that’s a rate of 18%. And running backs also aren’t anywhere near as bad as WRs…..even though they actually would have a reason to be, since they play a WAY bigger role on a week-by-week basis."
Dolphins, Chargers, Texans, Titans, to name a few. If we are including off field "distractions" then your argument falls through. Lets talk about linemen then, or every other position. I'm talking about "diva" status, the attention, me first attitude. Off field distractions are irrelevant, and if u take that element out, the list of teams w/o problem wide receivers grows.
4-5 diva QBs tops in the league? Romo, Cutler, Young, Warner, Favre, Eli Manning (re: draft. refusing to go to a team that drafts you definitely qualifies one as a diva), Brady (although he is really the anti-diva, his high profile status sometimes forced himself into diva-like situations, like the wife/baby's mamma situation), McNabb, Vick, Rothlesburger (again, kind of an anti-diva, but the motorcycle incident definitely seemed Diva-esque), Aaron Brooks (why not), Kitna (either a diva, or stupid, but either way), rex grossman, culpepper, etc. just to name a few
so thats 13-14 right there, so really at 3 per team (92 QBs, a larger sample will account of guys who aren't in the league right now because of their diva-ness), that represents 15% of QBs as having some Diva-like situations.
so WRs:
Moss, Boldin (not sure he's a diva, personality wise, just a contract dispute right now), Marshall, Owens, Ochocinco, Braylon Edwards, Santonio Holmes? (not sure he's a diva, but including anyways cuse of the off-field stuff), Ward? (not sure he's a diva either, just kind of dirty for a WR), Hester? (wouldn't say a Diva either, but why not), Plax, Branch, Hackett, and I can't think of anymore that would qualify, but feel free to add, the numbers will hold up either way.
This represents 13, using the 5.5 number that means roughly 176 WRs in the league, something like 7%.
The problem w/ all of these numbers is that "High Profile" is easily confused with Diva. Maybe it's just that the Diva WRs are louder and make more noise than the Diva's of other positions, but it seems to me that WRs, especially due to the large numbers of the position in the league, account for equal or lesser amount of the "diva" population of the NFL.
Harrison has mostly stayed out of trouble and did not have to do outragious things to stoke his ego. Donald Driver has been another.
Among the young guys Jennings and Colston let their on field performance do the talking.
The other no talent poor teammates are just worthless shallow beings that think prancing around in the endzone like a rainbow warrior should not be penalized.
I don't think the spoiled brat attitude is limited to wide receivers or the NFL in general......Most have been coddled since HS, and get their ummm......college degrees via the programs bottom line, be it the NFL or NBA, it simply boils down to they think the world revolves around them, and the league's didn't exist before they came along, it's simply money now.......Back in the old day, when a Lombardi, Halas, or a Landry spoke.....The players knew they were the boss, and no BS was tolerated, but the owners , in their same lust for greed, are like parents, they create the dysfunctional children in their house........Just like baseball with the steroids.........Simply greed.......
Such a brooding deep debate in the comment section today.
And as always, "fantasy" football is for losers.
Calvin Johnson is a class act.
The fact alone that Derrick Mason has yet to be mentioned is inarguable proof that he's the most overlooked excellent receiver in the NFL.
Say it like they say "Alec. Baldwin." in Team America: World Police--
Calvin. Johnson.