There are at least two NFL rookies who are not big fans of Ravens wide receiver Steve Smith. Back in September, Smith got into a war of words with Jaguars rookie Jalen Ramsey during a game, and it spilled over into their post-game interviews, with Ramsey referring to Smith as an "old man." And after the Cowboys beat Baltimore on Sunday, Dallas rookie Anthony Brown said he had "no respect" for Smith or the trash talking he did on the field.
So what does Smith think of all this? Well, as you might expect, he doesn’t "give a flying f*ck." That’s what he told reporters who asked him about how he’s now been called out by two different NFL rookies this season. He also worked some trash talk into his response because, well, he just wouldn’t be Steve Smith if he didn’t do that, now would he?
"Older guys, they understand the respect game. These young guys, these new millennium guys, they don’t really get it," Smith said. "I’ve had two rookies that unfortunately, they have lost all respect for me, so it’s been really keeping me up at night. It’s tragic. I’ve been losing sleep. With all the lack of sleep, I know we lost, but I was almost unable to send my cleats and gloves all the way to [the Pro Football Hall of Fame in] Canton [Ohio] because of the lack of sleep thing."
Smith was, of course, referring to the fact that he caught the 1,000th pass of his career against the Cowboys on Sunday:
Would you expect him to react any differently? Smith has been taking aim at his haters since the beginning of his career, and he isn’t going to stop now simply because his playing days are coming to a close.
