Is hurdling a defender in a game similar to trash-talking a defender?
Mostly, no. But for Trey McBride, the All-Pro tight end seems to be as sheepish about his yapping at opponents as he has been about his hurdling.
On Sunday, he was again caught on camera/mics trash-talking, this time questioning Cowboys rookie Caleb Downs about whether he should've been a first-round pick. But when talking about it, that same "aw shucks" kind of smile emerges.
"I don't think about it at all," McBride said. "I play with a lot of passion, I play with a lot of big personality when I'm out there. I just kind of turn into a different person. That's just part of the game, I guess. When I catch a ball I let the other guy know, and the ball has found me a lot lately, so I let them know a lot.
"I don't want that to be a part of my game but at the same time I'm not going to change who I am."
McBride grew up with two brothers, and talking smack to each other was just part of daily life. That's part of it. That passion for football is the other factor, so "I do chirp a little bit, yeah."
His moment last year against the Rams, the clean part of which was McBride bellowing "I'm HIM," ended up on some T-shirts in the Cardinals locker room. That, like the moment with Downs this past weekend, were on the sideline where the network's parabolic mics show off TV's technological advances when it comes to getting inside the game.
"When I get on the sideline I forget those microphones are right there," McBride said. "It's gotten me a couple of times.
"At the same time I'm having fun, I'm not really that serious out there. Those guys (who I chirp at) know I'm just having fun."
McBride did agree that he has the same after-the-fact reaction to his trash-talking as he does with his hurdles (he tried another one of those in Dallas too). "Split-second, stuff happens."
"I hate all the attention on me," McBride said. "That's the one thing I don't like. (Going viral) was funny, it was cool, but at the same time it's part of the game. We're just competing."
