Eli Apple provides (dubious) entertainment, especially off the field. In the Championship Game on Monday night, the Kansas City Chiefs have a golden opportunity for a cracking response on the field

For a loudmouth, it’s a pretty fine line. Icon or idiot – the boundaries are very fluid very quickly, the fall height is enormous.

Of course, fans (and also the media) love athletes who open their mouths, who sometimes spout a line, who weren’t nerds in the club’s own PR school, but are verbal rebels, eloquent types who sometimes fall out of the smooth-ironed role.

But only under two conditions: the ballyhoo may be entertaining, there may be a side blow, but it should remain above the belt. And the performance behind it should also be right, otherwise it quickly becomes embarrassing and unbelievable.

Eli Apple has been taking trash talk to a new level of its own for years. Unfortunately, the Cincinnati Bengals cornerback fails to meet both conditions.

Eli Apple prefers the bad taste

The 27-year-old doesn’t choose the bad taste by accident, but intentionally and rather often, and his performance on the field doesn’t necessarily empower him to whip out the verbal club, either. For a number-ten pick, his career has been conspicuously unremarkable.

And that’s been the case from day one. Ever since he was drafted by the New York Giants in 2016 much earlier than many thought. While he repeatedly tried in vain to live up to the billing, he ran riot on social media or on the field.

Even his own teammates were disgusted at one point. Landon Collins even called him a “cancer” in 2017.

He quit after two and a half seasons with the Giants and one and a half with the New Orleans Saints. At both stations, he repeatedly clashed with his own fans. He played two games for the Carolina Panthers in 2020 before finding something like sporting consistency with regular appearances with the Bengals since 2021.

Seldom athletic extraordinaire

Extra class, however, still not, neither sporting nor human. Nor, unfortunately, reason or maturity.

On the contrary: the Divisional Round win at the Buffalo Bills last time out was an advantage he couldn’t let lie unused.

So Apple teased Bills receiver Stefon Diggs, responding to his openly displayed frustration: “Cancun on three.” After all, the Bills were off because of the bust and could go on holiday. Conditionally funny. He advised Diggs and quarterback Josh Allen to undergo “couples therapy”. That’s better.

Though he didn’t stop at the Bills safety even after the Damar Hamlin tragedy, posting a heart emoji formed by hands, he did dismiss it. But no one believes him anymore.

Eli Apple: No All-Pros, No Pro Bowls

“He has no All-Pros, he has zero Pro Bowls,” Bills legend LeSean McCoy etched. “Eli Apple was the tenth pick in the first round and in his seventh year he’s been on four teams? You have to be that bad first. You’re the 10th pick in the first round and they get rid of you in the second year?”

It will be interesting to see what happens next for Apple and the Bengals, because it could be big time for the cornerback in the championship game at the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday night. The trash talk came back in spades about a year ago when he tangled with the Chiefs on the way to the Super Bowl and then got his trousers pulled off by Rams receiver Cooper Kupp in the grand finale.

The Chiefs, of course, enjoyed it. “I wish you were a better corner, then the decisive touchdown wouldn’t have fallen on you,” wrote receiver Mecole Hardman, for example.

But that, too, was no lesson to Apple to take it more thoughtfully. For the Chiefs, it would be sweet revenge if they finally beat the Bengals and especially Apple after three losses in a row. But one thing is for sure: In a Bengals victory, the cornerback will show his loud side again – whether the Bengals win in spite of him or with him.