Posted by Ryan Wilson

Well, this is shocking. And by "shocking" we mean "quite predictable and sorta surprised it took this long."

Recently retired Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder might be out of football but he still has opinions. During his six-year career, he weighed in on everything from Ravens' running back Le'Ron McClain allegedly spitting on him to Jets head coach Rex Ryan's mental health.

Now that he's no long affiliated with the Dolphins, Chowder is free to speak his mind about his former club, too. And that's exactly what he did. Appearing on WQAM, Crowder was brutally honest about Miami quarterback Chad Henne.

“He hasn’t really proven anything to me while I played with him and now being on the other side, looking down as a fan, he’s not impressing me, either,” Crowder said, according to PFT. “So he can get on, he has all the tangibles, I want to say, the arm strength, his footwork’s funny, but [with the] arm strength he has, you know he can make some good throws, but the intangibles, the winning the game, the wanting to have everything on his shoulders, like the Bradys and like the Mannings, and wanting to have, be down by five with a minute left on the 20 yard line, let’s see what happens, he doesn’t have that in his heart yet, and I think it will be hard for him to win. But like I said the proof’s in the pudding, so if he comes out this year and going crazy, you know, I’ll have to put my foot in my mouth, but, if I was a betting man, I wouldn’t bet on him going crazy.”

(Note: As soon as the online sports books post the odds on "Henne going crazy" we'll report them here.)

This is similar to ESPN analyst Merril Hoge taking to Twitter to blast Tim Tebow. While it was hard to refute Hoge's message (basically: Tebow isn't a better QB than Kyle Orton, something most rational folks can agree on), the delivery was awkward and, well, sorta mean.

Could Crowder have been more diplomatic when talking about Henne's performance to date? Yeah, sure. Would it have made what he said any less true? Nope.

Now all that's left to do is wait and see if Henne goes crazy this season, either in a good way or by literally losing his mind and caving to the pressure.

In related news: no word on whether Channing was among the crowd heard chanting "We want Orton!" on Fan Appreciation Night.

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Posted by Ryan Wilson

Rex Ryan will have to find a new South Beach debate parter. After six NFL seasons, Channing Crowder has retired. The Dolphins' third-round pick in the 2005 draft, Crowder played his entire career in Miami.

In a radio interview Tuesday, Crowder told WQAM's Sid Rosenberg "I'm retiring. I'm hanging it up." The Dolphins released him on July 29, and after visiting the Patriots, retirement “started eating at me," he said.

“When I went to the workout with the Patriots, it was just weird,” Crowder told the Miami Herald after the interview. “I thought I’d be excited. I’d show them what I got. But it just felt dead. So I prayed on it, and things just started lining up.”

Crowder cited the arrival of his first child as another reason to call it quits, although he would like to pursue media opportunities. WQAM general manager Joe Bell told the Herald that Crowder will have a role at the station this season but “I don’t know what form. He’s as good as any athlete I’ve ever heard on radio.”

And that's the thing: Crowder is probably better known for the words that escaped his lips than anything he ever accomplished on the field.

The choicest nuggets:

* June 2009: In response to Rex Ryan quotes that had nothing to do with Crowder or the Dolphins (Ryan, months into the Jets gig, said he wasn't going to kiss Bill Belichick's rings):

"Oh, (Rex's) going crazy. He's going absolutely nuts. I know it's his first chance to be a head coach, and I know he's excited about life. But, like I said, I've never played a football game in June in my whole life. So congratulations to him. He's the OTA, the OTA Super Bowl winner."

Crowder wasn't done. "He says he'd take care of me if he was younger? I'd have beat the hell out of that big old joker. Or if he really wants to get retro, my daddy or my uncle could have handled him. Don't get big. Win with preparation? Start watching some tape and learn who your rival is. Come on now."

* November 2010: Crowder claimed Ravens' RB Le'Ron McClain spit in his face during a Baltimore-Miami game. When he appealed to the officials, this is his version of what they told him:

"Then [the officials] said something about they let [Dolphins linebacker] Karlos Dansby get away with a facemask the play before. Who the f--- cares? A guy just spit in my face! I don't give a damn about Karlos pulling somebody's facemask. Like they didn't see [Dolphins quarterback] Chad Henne get hit twice when he slid. Yeah, a little Stevie Wonder and Anne Frank."

When asked what the Anne Frank reference meant, Crowder said: "Who was that? Is that the blind girl? Helen Keller ... I don't know who the f--- Anne Frank is. I'm mad right now. F--- it. I'm not as swift as I usually am."

* June 2011: Appearing on WQAM, Crowder said “I know people hate me. When people hate on you you’ve got to be doing something right,” and then offered his unwavering support for embattled Terrelle Pryor: "'ll know why [former Ohio St. coach Jim] Tressel got in trouble -- he was lying. But Pryor can't sell his stuff? It's his."

The final tally (assuming a Favre-ian comeback isn't on the horizon): 344 tackles, 2.5 sacks, one interception, three fumble recoveries, and countless verbal beatdowns.

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Posted by Ryan Wilson

If nothing else, Channing Crowder is self-aware. The Dolphins linebacker is known as much for his gum-flapping (coaches or players,it makes no difference) as he is for his on-field exploits. That unvarnished loquaciousness not only makes for a great sound bites (for example: "But I've never played a football game in June in my life. So congratulations to [Rex Ryan and the Jets]. He's the OTA Super Bowl winner" is comedy gold), it's also landed Crowder his own weekend radio show on WQAM 560.

“I know people hate me. When people hate on you you’ve got to be doing something right,” Crowder said during his first show last Sunday.

Well, it depends. People who aren't Pats fans hate Tom Brady because he has an annoying knack for winning just about every game he's apart of. On the other hand, people (mostly Lions fans) hated Matt Millen when he was team president because he came off as an incompetent boob and his personnel decisions set the organization back 10 years.

We don't hate Crowder at all. In fact, we like him. Likely because we're not a Dolphins fan (as CBSSports.com's Mike Freeman pointed out Tuesday morning, Crowder probably talks too much), nor fans of the other AFC East teams he regularly targets in his diatribes.

But not everything he says elicits chuckles and eye-rolls. The man occasionally makes sense, too.

In discussing the recent Ohio State fiasco, Chowder got right to the point. "I'll know why Tressel got in trouble -- he was lying," Crowder told his listeners. "But Pryor can't sell his stuff? It's his."

That would be former Buckeyes quarterback Terrelle Pryor, who abruptly left school earlier this month after it was revealed that he traded signed equipment for tattoos. Pryor's now preparing for the NFL's supplemental draft.

Of course, on the same show (man, he packed a lot into two hours) Crowder said "I'll say hypothetically I don't have any more of my Florida jerseys. There were some Jacksonville businessmen that really hypothetically liked my play." Surprisingly, neither the University of Florida (Crowder's alma mater), nor Joel Segal (Crowder's agent) commented on the comments.

This prompted the following headline from With Leather: "People actually buy Channing Crowder Jerseys?"

Not even hypothetically. We're not kidding. Do a Google search for "'Channing Crowder' fan" and you get a bunch of images of Channing Crowder but not too many fans, and none wearing a Channing Crowder jersey. Which, we guess, gets back to his point about people hating him.

This is all a roundabout way of saying the lockout can't end fast enough. Not only will it mean actual football, but Crowder will have to give up his radio show for his day job. And while that might be bad for WQAM ratings, it should make the Dolphins, the University of Florida and Joel Segal very happy.

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Posted by Andy Benoit

Channing Crowder, who is perhaps the most thoroughly average inside linebacker in football, recently took the concept of irresponsibility to a whole new level. The Dolphins veteran went on WQAM radio and said of the NFL Draft:

“Yeah I watch it and all. Mel Kiper and all, he messed me over, he lied to me, told me I was top-20 had me go out and spend X amount of dollars and then owe the bank stuff. So I don’t know the guys. They’re guessing just like we guess — I can guess who the Dolphins are going to take too. But I look at it a little bit and hear the ‘experts,’ I guess they call them, to see what they say.”

Kiper originally projected Crowder to be a first-round pick. Then, like every draft expert is entitled to do, he changed his mind. Kiper deciding that injury concerns were hurting Crowder’s stock. He was right; Crowder wound up being drafted in the third round (70th overall).

Obviously, Crowder – and only Crowder – is responsible for whatever money he spent before his rookie season. The guy has flown off the handle before. (Remember the Anne Frank comments? Or the time he said he didn’t know where London is?) It’s possible that in all this, Crowder is just kidding around. Let's hope.

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Posted by Will Brinson

In the wake of Michael Vick and the Eagles dropping some record-breaking offense in Washington last night, some alleged details emerged that didn't paint some Redskins defenders in a flattering light. Namely that LaRon Landry and DeAngelo Hall taunted DeSean Jackson about the concussion he suffered a few weeks ago, and that Landry spat on Philly center Mike McGlynn several times.

Naturally, the NFL is investigating -- a spokesman told the Philadelphia Daily News that they were looking into both the alleged spittle and the pregame skirmish between players (which occurred because of the alleged taunts directed at Jackson).

This is the second week in a row that the NFL's had to investigate an incident of spitting during a game. Last week Channing Crowder and La'Ron McClain got into a nasty little war of words after the Dolphins-Ravens game, although the NFL concluded that there wasn't enough evidence to warrant punishing McClain, despite some video that seemed to indicate otherwise.

Landry's denied that he spit on McGlynn (the two incidents in question were on an extra point to put the Eagles up 21-0 and then again with four minutes remaining in the game), claiming that the proof he didn't is positional, as there'd be no reason for him to line up in the A-gap at any point during the game.

"This is my answer: When would I ever be in touch with the center? I never blitz the 'A' gap." Landry said, according to the Washington Post."Extra points? Still, when would I ever be in the 'A' gap? Extra points I'm on the end. With that said, that's your answer."

Hall also, according to the Post, denied taunting Jackson before the game and Landry "downplayed" it.

Given a lack of video evidence (that we know of so far anyway) on Landry spitting, it seems like a long shot that he'll be punished by the NFL, given that McClain received no punishment the week before.

As for the taunting, though, that might be more serious of an offense given the way in which the NFL has handled concussions this year. The notion of one player threatening another one with physical harm and/or making light of what is a very serious injury probably won't go over well with the league office.

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Posted by Josh Katzowitz

FB Le’Ron McClain, who was accused by Dolphins LB Channing Crowder last Sunday of spitting in his face and who denied it before saying he might have done it unintentionally, will not be fined by the NFL.

Though there was video of the incident – seen in this post – the NFL concluded there wasn’t enough evidence to rule one way or the other.

Dolphins coach Tony Sparano is upset, because he believes there’s no question McClain spit in Crowder’s face. Meanwhile, Baltimore coach John Harbaugh is OK with the no-fine decision because he believes there’s no question the incident didn’t happen.

My question: why would Crowder make up something like that? The answer: he probably wouldn't.

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Posted by Andy Benoit

It doesn't necessarily excuse Channing Crowder for losing his mind after Sunday's game at Baltimore, but for what it's worth, it appears the Dolphins linebacker wasn't lying when he said Ravens fullback Le'Ron McClain spit in his face. Take a look at this (and thank you to Jeff Darlington of the Miami Herald for passing this along):





It will be interesting to see how the NFL disciplines McClain for this.

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Posted by Josh Katzowitz

Oh, to be a scribe in the locker rooms of the Dolphins and the Ravens after Baltimore knocked off Miami 26-10.

First, you’ll have to recall that Ravens WR Derrick Mason, who’s 36 years old, didn’t like the fact Dolphins LB Channing Crowder called him “the old guy” earlier this week. And yeah, it didn’t seem that it should have been a big deal, because after Crowder called him old, he still said Mason was one hell of a receiver. He might have been disrespectful, but it didn’t seem intentional.

Even so, Mason fired back, saying, “He was still peeing himself when I was playing football."

Naturally, Mason had a decent enough day, catching four passes for 42 yards and a touchdown as Baltimore routed the Dolphins, and afterward, he said Crowder is a horrible football player and that he’ll probably be out of the NFL before Mason retires. Apparently, the game got pretty nasty as well.

After the contest, Crowder accused Ravens FB Le’Ron McClain of spitting in his face in the third quarter.

"He spit in my face and that's the reason I got mad," Crowder told reporters, including the Miami Herald. "He's a bitch-ass punk. Write that."

McClain, you may respond:

“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.”

So, McClain denied the charge. Doesn’t matter to Miami LB Karlos Dansby.

"Man, if I'd have seen that, there would have been a damn brawl out there, straight up," Dansby said. "We some tough guys. But if you take a cowardly way like that, you need to be straightened. Hopefully, Roger Goodell will look at the film and he'll do something about it. If he don't, we'll see him in the street and we'll have to handle it like men.

"For you to spit in the guy's face and walk away, that's a coward move. That's a coward move. They supposed to be some tough guys. They ain't all that tough, they pull a coward move like that. They ain't that damn tough."

Tough enough to beat up on the Dolphins, though. Definitely that tough at least.

UPDATED (6:49 p.m.): Didn't see these quotes originally, but ESPN.com had a few bonus comments from Crowder - who probably needs a review of WWII history.

From the story:

Crowder said when he complained to the officials, they told him they didn't see McClain spit at him.

"Then they said something about they let [Dolphins linebacker] Karlos Dansby get away with a facemask the play before," Crowder said. "Who the f--- cares? A guy just spit in my face! I don't give a damn about Karlos pulling somebody's facemask. Like they didn't see [Dolphins quarterback] Chad Henne get hit twice when he slid. Yeah, a little Stevie Wonder and Anne Frank."

Asked what the Anne Frank reference meant, Crowder said "Who was that? Is that the blind girl? Helen Keller ... I don't know who the f--- Anne Frank is. I'm mad right now. F--- it. I'm not as swift as I usually am.

"That's the first time I've ever been spit in my face in my life. And that's the worst thing you can do to a man as another man, spit in somebody's face. Why would you do that? Why would you try to? Because you're scared of me? Really? Spit on me and then walk away real fast and let your team protect you? That's what he did."

Not real good (or swift), eh?

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