89 hit Josh Rosen with a bottom line blowtorch.
During Friday's pre-draft coverage on NFL Network, former All-Pro receiver and current analyst Steve Smith Sr. lit into Josh Rosen because the current and likely soon-to-be former Arizona Cardinals quarterback is upset after Kyler Murray was drafted.
Teed up with the report that Rosen unfollowed the Cardinals on Instagram and Twitter, Smith took offense to the pettiness and perception that Rosen seems like a spoiled player, and flamed the QB.
"Every team is drafting, we've got six rounds the next couple days," Smith said as he began building toward a crescendo. "Guys are getting replaced. You are replaceable. ...Now you're mad they brought some competition in here, so you're going to try to take your ball (and leave). First of all, son, it ain't your damn ball to take anyway. So, just keep playing with your phone and you're showing us what the stigma of you and who you were at UCLA. Now you brought it to the professional level and showed us when things don't go your way you're going to cry in the corner. But guess what? They going to ship your ass somewhere else and you can go cry and be their problem.
"This is a man's game. Be a man and go against that man one-on-one. He gets 10 plays, you get 10 plays. Do your deal. Ain't nobody giving you nothing. The only thing you can get on this stage, right now, is a free ass whopping, everything else you gotta work hard for."
The entire segment is worth a watch, including Smith admitting, "Oh, I'm knee deep in him right now..." and stating Rosen doesn't "have enough heart" to even attempt to compete with Murray.
It's unfair to dump all the Cardinals' 2018 problems on Rosen. He was in a nearly impossible situation. First, he had an awful offensive coordinator. Then Arizona switched OC's midseason to a man who had never called plays before. Rosen was a sitting duck behind one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL. He had no run game to help and his receivers were hurt, old or ineffective.
The Cardinals' problems were not all a product of Rosen, who did show some flash in spurts despite the crappy situation he was put in.
The Cards' decision to keep the QB in the dark on their plans to draft Murray also likely didn't help the situation, especially when Rosen showed up and did everything asked of him this offseason. When a divorce happens, it's rarely one-sided.
Smith's admonishment of Rosen, however, is a reminder of the perception he entered the NFL with, and how those opinions take time and success to bury. Rosen being petty on social media by unfollowing his current team provides highlighter marks for critics to jump on.
It's now on the quarterback to start over when he lands with a new team and battle to reshape that perception.
