BALTIMORE — Baltimore Ravens veteran wide receiver Derrick Mason got the final word over Miami Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder, who referred to him as "the old guy," earlier this week.
Mason, 36, repeatedly insulted Crowder following the Ravens’ victory over the Dolphins on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium.
"The first sign of respect is don’t disrespect your opponent and he disrespected his opponent early in the week," Mason said. "You have to be able in this sport to be able to back up what you talk. And for some reason this guy every time he says something he doesn’t back it up.
"He’s not a marquee player. I don’t think they even want him on this team, but they have no one to replace him. So, he has to be there. They took him out of the game and he played a little bit better. He’s in the game, he’s getting knocked down, he’s getting pushed out of the way."
Mason wasn’t done with his verbal assault on the talkative Dolphins linebacker, who nearly got into a fight with Ravens fullback Le’Ron McClain.
"The guy is horrible," Mason said. "Honestly, the guy is horrible. He’s probably a good guy, not taking that away from him, but he’s horrible. He’s not a good football player. Honestly, he needs to go back and watch the film and humble himself and not say anything."
It looked like the Ravens were going after Crowder on downfield blocks with extra gusto.
"He deserved it," Mason said. "They told me at the end of the week they were going to get him back for me and they did. The guy was either on the ground or getting pushed out of bounds. Willis [McGahee] stiff-armed him and made him look like a fool. There comes a point in time when you’re going to talk the talk walk the walk. He figured he can talk his way through a game.
"He tried that a few years ago with coach [Rex] Ryan and it didn’t work. I don’t understand why this guy continues to talk. This is not boxing. You can’t scare your opponent. You got to play football and the guy doesn’t want to play football. The guy can’t play football, point blank."
Meanwhile, McClain denied spitting on Crowder.
“Nah, man, I’m not that type of player," McClain said. "I’m a ballplayer, man. If he’s frustrated that I was straight getting after him all game, that’s a fact. That’s his opinion if he thought I spit on him, but the fact is, throughout the game, for four quarters, I was doing my job. And I’ll just leave it at that.
“Nah, I didn’t spit on him. That’s crazy. That’s not my game. I’m Le’Ron McClain, man. Le’Ron McClain don’t spit on another player. But I will block you. Four quarters. That’s a fact.”
Crowder, though, insisted that it happened.
"Get your pens out, the [expletive] a– punk Le’Ron McClain spit in my face, spit in my face," Crowder said. "Keep writing, he spit in my face and that’s why I got mad. So, the refs told me they didn’t see the spit hit my face, that’s some ho [crap] and he’s a ho, go tell him.
"That’s why he was cutting me, he’s a cutter. He’s soft, I want to say some other choice words. He’s soft and he spit in my face"
Added Dolphins linebacker Karlos Dansby, "If I’d have seen that it would’ve been a damn brawl out there straight up, we don’t play that, we some tough guys, but if you take a coward way like that, you got to be straight.
"Hopefully, Roger Goodell look at the film and do something about it, if he don’t, we’re gonna have to handle it like men, but for you to spit in a guy’s face and then walk away, that’s a coward move, he’s supposed to be some tough guy. They ain’t all that damn tough, they call a coward move like that, that’s just what their makeup is."
