Canadian NFL receiver Chase Claypool is in the doghouse Tuesday after drawing the ire of his teammates and coach for comments made after his team’s embarrassing 41-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
At the microphone post-game other members of the Pittsburgh Steelers emphasized the need for better practice habits and execution to turn their 5-5-1 football team around. When asked the same question, Claypool took a different tact.
“We have music in warm-ups and that, so it’s fun,” Claypool said, ignoring those warmups have come before poor performances. “People are dancing, having fun. So I think maybe music would make practice more fun and little more uptempo.”
Needless to say, the rest of the Steelers were not impressed and defensive tackle Cameron Heyward got the ball rolling in a radio appearance in Pittsburgh Tuesday.
“I hope he was kidding. Because as soon as he said it, I was about to rip the speaker out…That is not what we need right now,” Heyward fired back. “He’s going to be shocked because there isn’t going to be anything playing at practice.”
The three-time All-Pro pass rusher wasn’t the only one upset with Claypool’s nonchalance, with Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin entering the fray a few hours later.
“Claypool plays wide out and I’ll let him do that,” he said. “I’ll formulate the practice approach and I think that division of labor is appropriate.”
After being selected in the second round, 49th overall during the 2020 NFL Draft, Claypool broke onto the scene as a rookie by catching 62 passes for 873 yards and nine touchdowns last season, plus 10 rushes for 16 yards and two scores.
The Abbotsford, B.C. native became a household name across Canada by tying the single-season record for touchdowns by a Canadian in the NFL with 11 and scoring the longest NFL touchdown ever by a Canadian-born player at 84 yards. His rookie campaign ranked among the best all-time seasons by a Canadian receiver — ever, but the follow up has not been nearly as grand.
Claypool has 37 catches for 608 yards and one touchdown in 11 games as his team flounders and these comments add to Claypool’s growing reputation for ill-timed comments. The receiver famously said the Cleveland Browns were going to ‘get clapped‘ in the AFC Wild Card round against the Steelers last season and called Cleveland ‘classless‘ after the loss, but now it is his own team who he has angered.
It seems like Claypool may have to simply do the Canadian thing and apologize.
