Channing Crowder Opens His Mouth Again

WQAM in Miami knew they hit a gold mine when they gave Miami Dolphins outspoken LB his own radio show.  Some of us may have thought, “What in the hell were they thinking?”.  The truth is if there is one guy on the Miami Dolphins who speaks his mind, it’s Channing Crowder. Sometimes he is entertaining and other times he simply misguided.  He has made comments about Helen Keller and Anne Frank and routinely has something to say about NY Jets HC Rex Ryan.  So it comes as no surprise to anyone that anything at any time may come out of his mouth.

Crowder recently told Omar Kelly of the Sun-Sentinel “I know people hate me. When people hate on you you’ve got to be doing something right,” Crowder said on the first episode of his show on Sunday.

While this is tame compared to most of Crowders statements over the years, like he doesn’t know where London is, the truth is it is still misguided.  The problem with Crowder is that very few fans would be upset if he were not a Miami Dolphin.  His words off the field carry more weight than his play on it.  Crowder is not a game changer and he is rarely a playmaker.  The fact that he is a starter speaks more to the fact that the Dolphins have yet to find someone to replace him.

Some may argue that is a sign that Crowder is good enough that he can’t be beat out.  Others will argue that the team simply can’t find the right fit, the right player, the right combination of both.  Crowder is nothing more than adequate.  Consider the team brought in Karlos Dansby last season to fill the role of leader on the defense.  After spending the money on Dansby, the team really didn’t have the money to spend on someone to replace Crowder and the draft didn’t provide a high end opportunity with so many other holes and issues on the team.

All that and Crowder still has a hard time staying on the field.  He has spent parts of the last three season injured, on IR, or missing games due to injury.  And when he is healthy, most of his tackles are made three yards off the line of scrimmage and not behind it.  In fact, Crowder’s blitzing is so bad that he rarely comes close to getting to the QB even when he is unblocked.  I have more images in my head of Crowder being tripped up by a RB than I do of him tackling anyone behind the line of scrimmage.

So when Crowder says something like “I know people hate me” and “I must be doing something right” he needs to realize that if anyone really hates him, it’s because he way too much “talkie talkie” and way too little “walkie walkie”.