Willis McGahee: Confident or Delusional?

"I'm the best running back in the NFL. I am also taller than Yao Ming and smarter than Steven Hawking"

Well eff me. I thought Willis McGahee would have learned better from his "I'm the best back in the NFL" debacle of a couple years ago. Clearly, he has not because he is again running his mouth.

McGahee says he's best back in NFL

The article is quite humorous. I particularly like this passage:

"No doubt [I'm the best]," said the Baltimore Ravens running back. "There may be other guys who have done more [statistically] than me. But if you ask me, I'm always going to tell you I'm the best. I don't care if I rush for only 200 yards. I still feel I'm the best."

I'm speechless. (Actually, I'm not...because if I was, I would have stopped typing.) Willis certainly is confident for a guy who has a career YPC average of under 4 yards, and hasn't played in a game that is even remotely important. If I am to use fantasy draft position as a barometer of who is the best back in the game, Willis is not the best. Sorry. He's actually about 12th to 15th best...unless you're in a league that really incents you to draft QBs or WRs, then he's about 3rd round material.

Willis, in honour of your ignorance and illogical point of view, I have decided that "What Would Mike Reno Do" is the best blog in the world. I am the greatest writer in the world. There may be other guys who have done some more [grammatically] than me. But if you ask me, I'm always going to tell you I'm the best. I don't care if I write 200 words. I still feel I'm the best.

I don't have any problem ripping McGahee. As a Bills fan, he was a glimmer of hope, but most of us could have told you from Day 1 that this relationship was going to end badly...especially since McGahee was represented by that douchebag Drew Rosenhaus.

Myself and a colleague from the web-journal community (Steve Holt over at World Wide Net Web) actually met Willis McGahee at a Baby Joe Mesi fight in Buffalo back in 2003. By "met", I mean we saw him hanging out after the fight....we approached and said something like "How you doin? Welcome to Buffalo. Glad to have you here!" His response was basically a half-assed handshake, only after his handler PR lady gave him the "make nice with the locals" wink. Even though that was a year before he first took the field, that incident was sufficient enough for me to never really be a die-hard fan. Steve Holt bought a jersey...but he may have been drunk. (Apparently people drink at Bills games...who knew?)

Am I a little worried that Willis is going to go for 1800 yards this season? Sure. But I really don't think it is going to happen. He's known as a great power runner, but I haven't seen him deliver a great stiff-arm since his rookie year. He's tentative and likes to dance around. My one compliment of his game is that he could nick an extra yard every once in a while, on a play where you'd figure he was dead and buried. As a guy who's watched LaDanian Tomlinson in person, and a bunch of times on TV, I'll take the back who hits the holes at full speed (Sorry...that sounds dirty. Totally unintenional) and can actually put the ball in the endzone every once in a while.

Anyway...time for bed. Matt Giordano just returned an INT for an 83-yard TD. For now, I'm a fan...just because he might be related to the Chicago deep-dish Giordanos.