Now we enjoy ripping on Ted Ginn Jr. as much as the next Dolphin fan, but when an outsider calls him yella, we have to stand behind our resident first-round bust.
Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson told reporters Wednesday that Ginn chickened out of a foot race to determine who was the fastest man earlier this summer in front of a bunch of NFL players on South Beach.
Now usually this type of smack talk is a he-said-he-said type of situation, but when you add witnesses like Vince Young, Chad Ochocinco and a throng of other interested spectators into the mix, the accusation merits some consideration.
The allegation adds a bit more spice to a big show down this Sunday when the Dolphins face the Titans with major playoff implications at stake. It's not likely Johnson and Ginn will be on the field at the same time to face off, but we'll keep our eyes open in the pre-game.
According to Johnson's version of how things went down, Ginn and resident loud-mouth Joey Porter were barking at some other NFL players at a club on South Beach. That's when Johnson showed up and Porter, who loves to have other people back up his big talk, declared that Ginn would smoke Johnson like a Cuban cigar in a foot race on Ocean Drive.
Johnson, who probably could run away from a defender while he is sleep walking, was ready to throw down - feet that is. But...
"[Ginn] never showed up," Johnson said. "Him and Joey Porter and those guys were talking about how he can beat me and [Ginn] said he can beat me. When it came down to it, he just was a no-show."
At Dolphins practice Wednesday, Ginn was bombarded with questions about him woosing out on Ocean Drive, which should have been welcome attention considering he is usually peppered with questions about dropping passes. He said it didn't happen as Johnson's version portrays and that there was never a set up race.
"It wasn't a situation where I didn't show up or he didn't show up. We both were on our own free time," Ginn said. "It's not like I am scared of him."
He refused to answer whether he would welcome a foot drag race with the NFL's leading rusher.
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The tale of the tape would seem to favor Johnson. Ginn and Johnson were track stars in college and both have blazing speed. Johnson ran a 4.2 at the NFL Combine in 2008. Ginn was clocked at 4.2 at Ohio State but ran a respectable 4.37 at the Combine before his rookie year.
Johnson thinks a race would be as lopsided as chicken racing a cheetah. Not that we are calling Ginn a chicken in this situation, but that's just the appropriate analogy right now.
Johnson also said he would dust the world's fastest man, Usain Bolt, in a 50-meter dash. That sounds like a stretch but at least it would be competitive.
Ginn's teammate Channing Crowder didn't have his back. He said Johnson would beat Ginn -- and perhaps Bolt, too.
"He might roll Bolt in the 100," Crowder said. "Y'all don't know how fast that boy is. He is fast, fast, fast. Flat-out FAST -- capital letters."
Anyways, if the rumors are true and Ginn was a no-show, we could think of plenty excuses why he had to raincheck that night.
Maybe he decided to get some late night practice in trying to catch balls with his elbows (he's perfected that skill). Or maybe Ginn couldn't find his winged sneakers or the proper cleats to go with his linen outfit.
Either way, Johnson's smack talk should have all Dolphin fans rallying behind Ginn, who may have showed some serious smarts in walking away from the foot race at the O.K. Corral.
After all, sometimes it takes a fast man to run away like a little girl.
