The Buffalo Joker

Without fantasy football, I would never have heard of third-year Buffalo Bills wide receiver Steve Johnson. Now, he may just be my favorite player in the NFL.

Johnson first caught my attention about a month ago, when I needed to add a wide receiver to my fantasy squad, "Grandad Pause!". He had just come off of a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars where he caught two TDs, so I took a flyer on him.

In his first game with my squad, he caught 11 passes for 145 yards, and he hasn't seen the bench since. Still, I had zero idea who he was, what he looked like, or even (before I began writing this) where he was from.

Fast forward to yesterday, and America witnessed Johnson play "The Joker" to TOcho's "Batman and Robin" in the Bills 49-31 come-from-behind blowout over the Cincinnati Bengals, and it is possible that a star has been born.

Johnson caught 8 passes for 137 yards and 3 TDs. After one of the TDs, he unveiled his "Why So Serious" t-shirt. Then, in the postgame press conference, he very eloquently explained both his performance, and his celebration, while wearing only a wifebeater (a tank top t-shirt for those not in the know).

What's not to like?

Only time will tell if Johnson is able to parlay this newfound success into stardom, but I'm hoping he does. In doing my research (and examining some of the tattoos) I discovered that Johnson and I both are Bay Area (Yay Areaaaaa!) natives, so aside from my own fantasy success, I now have even more of a reason to wish him well.

Johnson is well on his way to a 1,000 yard season, and he his 9 TD receptions are good for third in the NFL. More importantly, he was featured in ESPN Monday Night Countdown's "C'mon Man" segment, in which eventual Hall of Famer (if there is a God) Chris Carter was so befuddled by Johnson's press conference performance, he took off his own shirt, and finished the segment in his "wifebeater".

Why so serious?

Boy, You Talk T.O. Much

Hey, guess what? Terrell Owens got in front of a camera and said a bunch of stuff he probably should have kept to himself!

Yippee!

Owens sat down for an interview with the NFL Network's resident bad boy Michael Irvin. The Hall of Famer asked the Canton hopeful questions on a number of topics, such as:

How to improve the Cincinnati Bengals offense

"I've been in the presence of a lot of great football minds... Steve Young, Jerry Rice, George Siefert, Bill Walsh -- rest in peace. When I was a rookie... I didn't say a lot, but I sat back. I watched and I listened. I listened to the progressions the quarterbacks are supposed to go through."

"Trust me I understand and some people here think I really don't know what I'm doing. But I have to do it their way."

"I've tried to address some issues and input some things I've been taught about what has made me successful."

On whether or not he's being listened to.

"They hear it, but it's one of those things. They're listening, but they're not hearing me."

His contract situation.

"I don't want to give you nothing. I want to try and get on a team next year. (I'm) basically playing for free this year."

Randy Moss not getting a new contract.

"This baffles me to death."

Then to top it off, he sent out a tweet that while harmless, violates the league's rule about tweeting 90 minutes before kickoff. The tweet was an offer to give a prize of a ball signed by himself and his BFF, Chad Ochocinco, to a kid in the crowd wearing his jersey.

Somewhere in Bristol, one Skip Bayless is walking around with a "Woody Paige" as hard as the day is long, upon learning this.

Owens is the most polarizing player in the NFL this side of Brett Favre's junk. He has all the talent in any Hall of Fame wide receiver has ever had, and unlike Moss he has never been accused of being a "slouch". And if you look at the words he says, you can probably see that they are rational, and that he has a point.

However, Owens has made it almost impossible to take his words at face value due to all the theatrics over the years. Some people love the celebrations, some don't. Generally everybody can admit he's pretty sensitive, which is not a quality smiled upon in the NFL. Also, his throwing of multiple quarterbacks under the proverbial bus (Jeff Garcia, Donovan McNabb, Tony Romo) has swayed public opinion against him.

So my advice to Owens is to avoid former Dallas Cowboy Hall o Fame wide receivers, who may have a bone to pick with you about the whole "Star" thing from 2000, as well as interviews in general. Take the Sarah Palin route, and only sit down with "friendly media". It took 16 seasons to destroy your reputation, and quotes like those won't help you rebuild it.

Basically, take this advice from Rev Run and that DMC fellow. (Jam Master Jay -- rest in peace)