Moss and Carter both came under serious scrutiny for letting their egos get the best of them. |
Over the course of the history of the NFL there have been various overwhelming personalities providing us with some of the most special and ugly moments in the league's history. Most of these outspoken players happened to play the wide receiver position and that is far from a coincidence. Guys like Michael Irvin, Terrell Owens, Randy Moss and Jerry Rice have all had illustrious careers that were plagued(at times) by their own selfish personalities. But selflessness is not a wide receiver trait.
Many of the all-time wideout greats were tirelessly selfish. They always wanted the ball, most of the time for good reason. Wide receiver is an offensive "skill" position that is much different from the quarterback or running back positions. Wideouts have very little say over when they are going to get the ball. They can beat their defender like a rented mule, yet if the quarterback doesn't see them, their efforts go to waste. That's why wide receivers have to sometimes be self-serving. They need to let the quarterback know that they can burn this DB like a Sunday cookout, and if the QB doesn't get it the first time, it is necessary for the wideout to then drill it into his head. Their me-first attitudes are solely fueled by their lack of control over when they get the ball, no matter how wide open they get.
With their sometimes selfish attitudes, comes serious scrutiny. Moss, Owens and Ochocinco were the most recent players to have their careers fade out thanks to their vicious egotistical attitudes. But without those attitudes they couldn't be who they were. They wouldn't have have that killer instinct to make the plays they did and amass the absurd stats they did over their careers. Differently from the likes of Irvin and Rice who stayed relatively appreciated by teammates, the former three let their egos get the best of them. But even Irvin and Rice had their outbursts. This goes for plenty of receivers over the course of the NFL; selfishness, to a degree, is necessary for success in the NFL at WR.
Most people, including plenty of NFL players, are turned off by the attitudes of star wide receivers. Situations with these egotistical wideouts sometimes gets ugly, especially when you see guys like Owens or Moss throwing tantrums on the sideline when their QB missed a wide open look. But their dominating personalities actually add to their skill set. Sometimes they get sick of commanding cornerbacks and start exerting their influence over their own QBs, however that's when things go south. Many don't enjoy Michael Irvin and Cris Carter's boisterous egos on NFL Sunday Countdown, but that's just because they were wide receivers.
Wide receivers are about as dramatic as bi-polar actresses in Hollywood; you can't stand their guts, but god damn do you need them.
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