One of the biggest stories from Sunday’s slate of NFL games was the performance of Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Steve Smith against his former team, the Carolina Panthers. He caught seven passes for 139 yards and two touchdowns and after taking a couple of shots at the Panthers in the post-game press conference, most assumed everything was done. That was not the case.
Smith called in to WFNZ 610 AM The Fan’s ‘Bustin Loose’ to clear up rumors about his release from the Panthers this off-season. According to CBS Charlotte, Smith unloaded on Panther’s GM Dave Gettleman:
He doesn’t even have the cojones to tell it to my face. Everybody else says that it wasn’t personal, but if the first thing comes out of your mouth if it wasn’t personal, well guess what, it was personal […] Now that I play well you’re going to try and say that I’m a distraction […] I’ve always been a distraction, but I didn’t beat my wife. Yeah I hit some teammates six or seven years ago but I never beat my wife. I didn’t get arrested for DUIs. I didn’t fall off no motorcycles.
Smith spoke on a number of different topics throughout the interview including finding out he was being released while listening to a radio show on the morning he was supposed to meet with Gettleman.
There was even some shots taken at head coach Ron Rivera who Smith says ‘hid in his office’ instead of telling Smith what was going on.
Regardless of everything that happened, Smith seems to have gotten the last laugh with his performance in the Ravens destruction of the Panthers. But there are definitely tensions that remain and don’t seem to be going anywhere, anytime soon.
