THAT THERE WILL BE TRASH-TALKING IS HARDLY A STORY

By STEVE KING

So, according to a story headline I saw elsewhere on the Web, Browns cornerback Denzel Ward expects trash-talking in Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field.

Wow! Really?

Aw, you’re kidding, right? You can’t be serious. There will be trash-talking that afternoon?

I am just astounded.

That was meant to be sarcastic, but as I give it a second thought, it might be a serious comment – in a different way, though.

To think that anyone on either side would say that he expects trash-talking for the game, and that someone in the media would be so taken with the assertion that he would put it into a headline and write a story about it really is stunning.

Stunningly ignorant.

That’s the understatement of the year. Just less than two weeks ago when the teams played at FirstEnergy Stadium, there was a big fight at the end of Cleveland’s dominating 21-7 win. It was 45 years ago, in the mid-1970s, when Pittsburgh defensive tackle Mean Joe Greene, upset because he thought he was being held and it wasn’t being called, kicked the alleged perpetrator, Browns guard Bob McKay, right in … well, the same place that Cleveland defensive end Myles Garrett was kicked in that recent fight. And the list of cheap shots goes on and on and on.

Trash talking? That is what goes on when the captains meet at midfield for the coin flip every time these teams play. It’s like the opening act to the big stuff.

So, yeah – Newsflash! Bulletin! Stop the presses! – there will be trash talking filled with words you’re not supposed to say. And then there may be – probably will be – actions you’re not supposed to carry out.

This is a rivalry that goes back nearly 70 years. There is bad blood.

But that’s hardly a story in this day and age. It’s actually old news.