Ahhh, “Big Game” week is here and once again anyone with a microphone will listen to anyone that wants to talk.
In what has been a relatively quiet week between the two teams leading up to Sunday’s game, things took an odd turn on Tuesday when an ex-player made a stirring revelation about one of his former teams.
On Tuesday, former Chicago Bears and Baltimore Ravens linebacker/special teamer Brendon Ayanbadejo dropped a media week bomb during a FOX Sports podcast with former NFL linebacker Scott Fujita.
The following statement was made by Ayanbadejo and created quite a stir among fans who share different opinions on the subject.
“I’m not going to say which Super Bowl it was but I just remember getting off the elevator one night — it was early on in the week, just to start the week off — and all of the sudden I just got hit over the head with fumes of marijuana on the entire floor of the hotel that the team was staying on,” Ayanbadejo said. “I could just imagine there were a few young guys just toking it up in more than one room. I was like, ‘Man this is the week of the Super Bowl and you’re just going in?’
“So then I was looking around, and I’m like ‘OK, where is the security?’ I looked and for some reason we didn’t have regular police — coach was smart enough to have rent-a-cops on our floor instead of regular police like we usually do. I scratched my head but I was like, ‘OK, uh, that’s a good thing ’cause . . .’ that’s it. That’s all I’ve got to say about that.”
The response came on the heels of Fujita asking Ayanbadejo if he recalled a time when guys “took things a little too far” the week before the biggest game of their lives.
The question that arises is, why in the world would Ayanbadejo throw both of his former teams under the bus like that?
Ayanbadejo never mentioned which team – 2006 Bears or 2012 Ravens – was the culprit, nor did he name any players. What he did do is a create a controversy that never needed to be discussed – in fact, if you’re going to mention it without naming names or teams why even bring it up in the first place?
If he was using the platform to raise awareness levels about the number of players using marijuana, why wait until now?Ayanbadejo had all season to speak on the issue and to my knowledge (I searched the web a bit just now to make sure) hasn’t up until the interview with Fujita.
Ayanbadejo took to Twitter on Thursday January 30, 2014 to explain:
The former player drew some ire from football fans around the “Twitterverse,” with many claiming he was just looking to create a stir for self promotion. There were others, though, who supported his sharing the story.
Some people have notions that football players eat,breathe and live football 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Please don’t be naive. Football players are people too and many share the same vices that you or I may have so it isn’t really earth-shattering news that what Brendon described may have taken place.
During his tenure in Baltimore, I had the opportunity to cover a lot of Ayanbadejo off the field. His involvement within the community was second to none. From participating in NFL Play 60 events to providing teammates with support for their own foundations, Ayanbadejo was front and center.
While I don’t think his statement was made in malice against any of his former teammates, I am sure personnel on either of those two teams don’t appreciate the shadow it may have cast.
In fact in a radio interview with WNST, Ravens safety James Ihedigbo had this to say on Ayanbadejo’s comments:
“It’s so selfish to try & throw teammates under the bus.”
Ihedigbo also went on to state “You are now questioning players’ integrity from two teams.”
“Dig” tweeted the following:
It will surely never be known what team or players were involved in this particular incident, but we can be sure that Ayanbadejo won’t be the most popular guy at any future team reunions.
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