Former Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder, who surprisingly retired last week and intends to become a member of the media, already is firing fastballs. He aimed one this morning at the closely-cropped head of former teammate and Miami quarterback Chad Henne.
Appearing with our buddy Joe Rose of WQAM, Crowder teed off on Henne’s skills, or lack thereof.
“He hasn’t really proven anything to me while I played with him and now being on the other side, looking down as a fan, he’s not impressing me, either,” Crowder said. “So he can get on, he has all the tangibles, I want to say, the arm strength, his feetwork’s funny, but [with the] arm strength he has, you know he can make some good throws, but the intangibles, the winning the game, the wanting to have everything on his shoulders, like the Bradys and like the Mannings, and wanting to have, be down by five with a minute left on the 20 yard line, let’s see what happens, he doesn’t have that in his heart yet, and I think it will be hard for him to win. But like I said the proof’s in the pudding, so if he comes out this year and going crazy, you know, I’ll have to put my foot in my mouth, but, if I was a betting man, I wouldn’t bet on him going crazy.”
Crowder explained that woeful performance by the offense places pressure on, the defense -- and that the defense definitely notices when the offense struggles.
Crowder also threw a verbal grenade or two at Dolphins G.M. Jeff Ireland, saying that Crowder won’t be playing for the Dolphins as long as Ireland is there. Crowder also disclosed that he was fined multiple times by Ireland for making public comments.
“He fined me five, ten grand when I said something real crazy,” Crowder said, explaining that he tolerated Ireland’s “foolishness” because he “loved” coach Tony Sparano and wanted to play for him.
On one hand, it’s possible Crowder is merely chewing on sour grapes. On the other hand, he’s a guy who speaks his mind -- and we’ve got a feeling he’d tell it like it is even if he left under good circumstances.