The 10 Best Trash Talkers in the NFL

11.

Trash talking is as big a part of football culture as the Cover 2 defense, the I-Formation, or dumb commentary from Cris Collinsworth.

Following in the footsteps of Muhammad Ali, who pioneered the art of trash talking, sports stars have increasingly become celebrated for their ability to dish out a verbal smackdown. In the case of Deion Sanders, his “Primetime” persona is perhaps more memorable than his eight All-Pro nods. Same goes for Terrell Owens and his over-the-top touchdown performances—just as big a part of his career as finishing with the second-most receiving yards in NFL history.

Trash talk in football spices things up. Having a player tell us what he really thinks of his opponent—especially after a contentious and hard-fought game—is a lot more fun and authentic than watching a guy spout clichés like “We went out there, tried our best, and faced some tough opposition.” Sports are a form of entertainment, and keeping the banter entertaining is a great way to keep fans engaged and focused on the game.

Today’s NFL might not have as many great trash talkers as it did in the days of T.O., Michael Irvin, and Steve Smith Sr., but there are plenty of solid ones still around. Here are the 10 best.

10.Antonio Brown

Jalen Ramsey thinks that Antonio Brown is a great trash talker. Which, in trash-talk terms, is like having Michael Jordan praise your basketball skills.

The Jags’ star corner also said that Brown is one of his favorite receivers to play against, because he always returns the favor on Ramsey’s constant trash talk.

Brown might not be the first name fans think of in regards to this subject, but players say that he is incredibly vocal during games. ESPN named Brown the Steelers’ best trash talker in 2016, pointing out the frequency and fervency of his on-field barbs. His teammates seem to agree.

“If he beats you, you’re probably going to hear about it,” former Steelers cornerback B.W. Webb said.

9.Philip Rivers

Judging by his off-field deeds, Philip Rivers doesn’t seem like he’d be one of the NFL’s most brutal trash talkers. The married father of eight was a Walter Payton Man of the Year Award finalist in 2012, for his work helping abandoned and orphaned children find homes.

Once he hits the field, though, he becomes a completely different person. Rivers has been one of the league’s most aggressive smack talkers since he became the Chargers’ starter in 2006. He used to make Jay Cutler’s life hell during Cutler’s Broncos days.

Although the Cutler incident is probably his most memorable smack-talk moment, most of Rivers’ on-field banter is directed towards opposing defenders. And some defenders have grown to appreciate how he doesn’t back down.

“I love him. I love the way he goes out there. He’s a competitive guy,” Titans defensive end Jurrell Casey said. “He’s a guy that’s gonna fight no matter what. He’s gonna get in your face. He’s not afraid of one person on that field. You’ve got to love a quarterback like that.”

8.Ndamukong Suh

Ndamukong Suh isn’t afraid to go low. He’ll step on you, hit you late, and even aim where the sun don’t shine if the situation calls for it.

So perhaps a little trash talk isn’t the worst thing that you could get from Suh.

Ever since his days at Nebraska, Suh has been one of the game’s most vocal trash talkers—both on and off the field. Watch any game he plays in and you’ll see him yapping to someone about something. His favorite people to target—both rhetorically and physically—are quarterbacks, a group Suh called “pretty boys” that he “hates…with a passion.”

As for rebutting enemy trash talk, Suh said that he doesn’t have to—because his opponents are too scared of him.

“A lot of the guys don’t talk too much nonsense to me because I like to impose my will on them,” Suh said.

And by “impose my will,” Suh means he might accidentally stomp on you.

7.Josh Norman

When Josh Norman was tasked with covering Odell Beckham Jr. in Week 15 of the 2015 season, Norman’s physicality and trash-talk abilities were on full display in what became an all-time great one-on-one matchup.

Norman and Beckham battled—sometimes literally—throughout the game, with both players trading barbs and insults. Their matchup drew five flags—three for Beckham and two for Norman. But Norman was able to back up the talk, holding OBJ to 76 yards as the Panthers won 38-35. After the game, Norman said that Beckham has “the maturity of a little kid.”

The rivalry between the two continued to play out in full force over the offseason. That spring, Norman appeared on an ESPN show. When he was shown a picture of Beckham, he responded by simply saying, “OK.” OBJ took the opportunity to throw a subtweet Norman’s way:

That boy should thank me for all I've done for you !!! Your welcome tho ... Lol


— Odell Beckham Jr (@OBJ_3) March 25, 2016

But great trash talkers don’t subtweet.

@Obj_3 As your boy @Drake would say "trigger finger turn to Twitter finger's" huh?




I'm not Guna sub Tweet you Ima @ You.




So wassup?


— *Joshua R. Norman (@J_No24) March 25, 2016

6.Cam Newton

Although Newton is just an average quarterback, the rest of the NFL seems to view him as one of the game’s best trash talkers. Last year, an ESPN survey of 70 NFL players deemed Cam Newton to be the game’s best trash-talking quarterback, and for good reason.

Here’s a video of him trash talking the Packers at the line of scrimmage last season, right before dropping a touchdown over their heads.

pic.twitter.com/uYeBjXeMfB


— Nathan Freeman (@NateFreemanNFL) December 18, 2017

That’s some way to set up at the line. None of that boring “Omaha” crap.

It also appeared that Newton may have had some choice words for former teammate Kelvin Benjamin after the two engaged in what looked like a contentious conversation before an August preseason game. Benjamin recently criticized Newton’s ability to throw accurate passes, and said that his early career would have gone much better had Newton not been his quarterback. The Panthers QB has declined to discuss Benjamin in subsequent interviews, but has said that he wishes him the best.

5.Aqib Talib

Just ask Michael Crabtree how much Aqib Talib talks.

Back when he was with the Broncos and Crabtree was with the Raiders, Talib made a habit of snatching Crabtree’s signature gold chain. The first time he did it, he did it just because he said the chain annoyed him.

ICYMI: #Broncos CB Aqib Talib broke Michael Crabtree's chain necklace, then laughed about it: https://t.co/lb4gi5g4ag pic.twitter.com/gftimX02G7


— Jon Heath (@ByJonHeath) January 1, 2017

"I said if he wears that chain in front of me, I'm going to snatch it off,” Talib said. “He wore it in front of me, so I had to snatch it off. He started crying to the ref. He didn't say nothing to me, though."

When the two faced off the following season, Crabtree knew that Talib would be coming for his chain. So he taped it to his jersey.

And Talib still got the chain.

The two unfortunately won’t be lining up for Round 3 this year, now that Talib is with the Rams and Crabtree is with the Ravens. But the legend of Talib’s chain snatching lives on. In fact, his Wikipedia page even lists “chains snatched” as one of his official stats.

4.Bill Belichick

Bill Belichick is notorious for holding the most condescending press conferences in the NFL. He rarely reveals anything of substance.

But every once in a while, he’ll slip up and break character. And it’s a thing of beauty when he does.

The most savage example of this came after Super Bowl XXXIX against the Eagles, when he slammed wide receiver Freddie Mitchell. Before the game, Mitchell had jokingly claimed to not know who anyone in the Patriots’ secondary was, and said he “had something” for safety Rodney Harrison. These were typical Mitchell antics—he was basically Terrell Owens without the talent.

And Mitchell’s on-field performance was as predictable as his off-field performance: He finished the Super Bowl with just one catch. After which Belichick put him in a bodybag:

"All he does is talk. He's terrible, and you can print that. I was happy when he was in the game.”

Ouch.

Another great instance of this came at the expense of Bills head coach Rex Ryan in 2015, after Ryan pointed out that his defenses had had success against the Patriots in the past.

“I think our record against him has been OK,” Belichick shot back. “I’ll take it.’”

Belichick is 12-5 all-time against Ryan, including the playoffs.

3.Terrell Suggs

Entering his 16th season in the NFL, Suggs has a long paper trail of trash talk following him. Following in the footsteps of his former teammate Ray Lewis, Suggs has long been one of the NFL’s most aggressive talkers, both on and off the field.

Of Tom Brady, Suggs once said, “I don’t like him. He don’t like me. I don’t like his hair.” Suggs also memorably called Skip Bayless a “douchebag” to his face on an appearance on “First Take.”

And if they’re not playing well, Suggs might even go after his own teammates. Back in camp in 2015, Suggs mercilessly taunted Ravens backup quarterback Matt Schaub. From ESPN:

One of the biggest trends this training camp has been Suggs' unmerciful ripping of Schaub. During Saturday's practice, Suggs made sure Schaub was aware of his bad throws and refused to give him credit on his better ones.

After a pass by Schaub sailed out of bounds, Suggs yelled at him: "Everything up until the throw looked really good."

Then, later in practice, Schaub threw a touchdown pass to DeAndre Carter in a red zone drill. Strong safety Will Hill, who was in coverage on the play, received consolation from Suggs.

"A broken clock is right twice a day," Suggs said.

2.Richard Sherman

Richard Sherman’s immortal interview after the 2013 NFC Championship Game sealed his fate as one of the NFL’s all-time great trash talkers.

Legendary.

Whether you’re a cable TV blowhard or the greatest quarterback of all time, nobody is spared from Richard Sherman’s crosshairs. He’s not afraid to confront Tom Brady after a big win. He called Bayless an “ignorant, pompous, egotistical cretin” to his face. And he even recently slammed his old team, saying that the Seahawks have “lost their way” in recent years.

Sherman might not be as confrontational as he was circa 2013, but he’s still one of football’s all-time great trash talkers. The 49ers will certainly not be at a deficit on this front.

1.Jalen Ramsey

Ever since the Jaguars drafted him No. 5 overall in 2016, Jalen Ramsey has arguably been the NFL’s best cornerback—and trash talker. In fact, his trash-talking skills may actually exceed his coverage skills, which speaks volumes, given how elite he is.

It didn’t take long for Ramsey to dish disses to opponents. As a rookie, Ramsey called Steve Smith Sr.—a smack-talk god in his own right—an “old man.” Midway through his second season in 2017, Ramsey’s instigation drove the typically timid A.J. Green to fight him, resulting in an ejection for both players.

But Ramsey officially and indisputably cemented himself as the NFL’s trash-talk GOAT last week, after dissing a litany of NFL quarterbacks in an interview with GQ. There were a few quarterbacks that he took time to praise, among them Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, DeShaun Watson, Carson Wentz, Dak Prescott, and Kirk Cousins.

Others, however, weren’t treated so kindly. Here are a few of the highlights:

On Josh Allen: “I think Allen is trash. I don't care what nobody say. He's trash. And it's gonna show, too. That's a stupid draft pick to me. We play them this year, and I'm excited as hell. I hope he's their starting quarterback.”

On Ben Roethlisberger: “Big Ben, I think he's decent at best…It's not Big Ben, it's [Antonio Brown]. Big Ben slings the ball a lot of the time. He just slings it, and his receivers go get it.He has a strong arm, but he ain't all that. I played him twice last year, and he really disappointed me.”

On Matt Ryan: “I think Matt Ryan's overrated. You can't tell me you win MVP two years ago, and then last year, you a complete bust, and you still got Julio Jones? There's no way that should ever happen. I don't care.”

On Joe Flacco: “And just being honest about it, [Joe] Flacco sucks. I played him two years in a row. He sucks.”

On the Browns: “Every year is Super Bowl or bust, really. If you ain't shooting for the Super Bowl…I mean, I guess if you're the Browns, you're shooting for a win. Or a few wins, at least. But everybody else, you gotta be shooting for the Super Bowl.”

A little harsh? Yeah, just a little. But let’s be real: We were all thinking the same thing about Joe Flacco.