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In case you missed it, Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stevie Johnson was interviewed on the Jim Rome show Friday afternoon. Not long after, the poop hit the propeller on WGR Sports Radio 550.
Here’s a transcription of Stevie’s controversial comments about his conditioning efforts. (LISTEN HERE.)
JIM ROME: What are you doing to stay in shape and get ready for the offseason?
STEVIE JOHNSON: It’s funny, I’m actually going to work out.
JR: No way, really? You mean lift weights?
SJ: Yeah, I usually never work out. I just play basketball and run around the block.
JR: How does that work, really? You don’t hit the weights out of season at all?
SJ: The only time I worked out was my rookie year after combine just to get in the league. I went down to L.A. and worked with Travelle Gaines and ever since then I’ve only done work with my wife running around the block and playing basketball and that’s all I did.
JR: Why? Do they not insist you have some kind of offseason conditioning program? Throw the weights around?
SJ: I probably shouldn’t be saying this… yeah, they give us the booklet and stuff. I get it and put it in the drawer. I really don’t do it.
JR: Stevie, you made it through an entire interview without getting into trouble until right there I think.
SJ: I’m sorry, I’m just being honest, man. But this year we’ve got a new staff and I’ve had three seasons with 1,000 yards and that’s without doing real football work. So who knows what will happen if I really put in work? Maybe I can eclipse 1,000 and get to 1,200 and 1,300 and maybe I’ll be even more energized to finish out games and we’ll get things done. I’m gonna be working hard from next Sunday until April 1st when we go back.
(The full interview can be found at WGR’s site.)
WGR’s afternoon talk show was initially focused on the previous night’s epic Buffalo Sabres win over the Boston Bruins… at least until Mike Schopp had a listen to Stevie Johnson’s interview.
The Stevie comments are flat-out outrageous. “Who knows what would happen if I really put in work?”!! Know when to put the pom-pons down.
— Mike Schopp (@Schopptalk) February 1, 2013
You mean drops from the higher level he says he’d be at if he worked harder? “@dannymusc: It’s only an issue if his production drops”
— Mike Schopp (@Schopptalk) February 1, 2013
Why wasn’t Stevie Johnson drafted higher?
— Mike Schopp (@Schopptalk) February 2, 2013
Schopp went even so far as to suggest he would be OK with the Bills cutting Johnson from the team over these comments. Maybe the biggest loser in all of this was Thomas Vanek, who should have garnered AT LEAST a day’s worth of the talk-show cycle for his all-time franchise performance the night before.
Today was set to be the funnest day ever on WGR until Stevie-gate happened. #SadTrombone — Trending Buffalo (@TrendingBuffalo) February 1, 2013
Thomas Vanek should punch Stevie Johnson right in the throat for this today. — Trending Buffalo (@TrendingBuffalo) February 1, 2013
Today, Stevie Johnson fired back…
schopp and bulldog: ive done shows w/those clowns 2 yrs straight. they should have a much greater sense of the effort i put in for Buffalo.
— LORD YEEVIE (@StevieJohnson13) February 2, 2013
(THIS NEXT TWEET APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN DELETED.)
i’ve been nothing but honest with poodle and chap every monday for 2 yrs. for them to speak on That Yeevie like that is Super Gross!
— LORD YEEVIE (@StevieJohnson13) February 2, 2013
poodle and chap along with everyone who’ve witnessed me work in training camp, prac., and during games should know i give everything on SUN.
— LORD YEEVIE (@StevieJohnson13) February 2, 2013
torn groin. torn ligaments in fingers. hamstring. torn rib cartilage. shoulder injuries. etc. etc. How many games have i missed? chap & mut
— LORD YEEVIE (@StevieJohnson13) February 2, 2013
i don’t lift weights… ‘Whoopee’ ill not workout for an entire year and still run circles around these keyboard olympians chap and poodle.
— LORD YEEVIE (@StevieJohnson13) February 2, 2013
my wrkouts are Uncomplicated, Simplified and Effective for Stevie Johnson. individually ive done ok. im advancing my work; hopefully it help
— LORD YEEVIE (@StevieJohnson13) February 2, 2013
Bert and Ernie Over chap and poodle!
— LORD YEEVIE (@StevieJohnson13) February 2, 2013
Looking forward to round three!
I would HOPE SJ would run circles around Mike & Chris. He’s a paid, “professional” athlete while they’re paid radio talkshow hosts. I’ve talked to SJ before, & I never remotely would have questioned his determination to be the best in the game…until now. If there’s another level of play that we could be getting if he “put in work”, why shouldn’t Schopp & The Bulldog, us the fans, & more importantly the Buffalo Bills organization call him out on it? Buffalo athletes have always been known for maybe working a little harder or being a bit more passionate about their craft, the blue collar workers of professional sports. After hearing what I did Friday I can’t stop thinking that SJ is holding back, not doing everything he can to make himself better, that there’s another level he can get to but whatever…Whether that’s the case or not the seed has been planted in my head. Every play I see him make, or don’t make, I’ll wonder if the outcome should have been better. I guess I just finally learned the definition of “Handle Business Have Fun”.
Mike Schopp is a blowhard who seems to think that everyone’s crap stinks but his. I dont listen to his show beacuse he “Uses” his intellect to show us sports talk listeners that we just don’t know what we’er
talking about.
As for Stevie, I don’t know how serious he was since I did not hear the interview. Got to be honest with you I just don’t buy it that Stevie did not train properly. I believe that the only way he could be successful in the NFL is to train the right way and that includes a weight lifting regament. Its hard enough for a Wide Reciever to catch enough balls to gain 1,000 yards. IMHO, its eve more reamarable to do it Three years in a row
YEAH….i actually listened to the interview with Jim Rome live and didn’t think much about it…. Schopp appears to be reaching here. Like many have said, its not like any schmo off the street could gain 1,000 yards in this league three years in a row, particularly when you have a sub-par QB at the helm.
Schopp strikes me as the type that is in a constant state of “little dick syndrome”…. always feeling insecure or inadequate enough to feel the need to show the world that he is as much of a man as the next guy. He thinks of himself as an intellectual, but not allowing other opinions to be heard or not acknowledging them doesnt make your opinion better. sad. oh well…. that show is our only option for sports talk in the afternoon… so we have to grin and bear it. i am thoroughly convinced they wouldnt survive in a bigger market that could actually field more options…
@bigfranky75
I think Chis Parker is Boomer Esaison to Mike Schopp’s Craig Carton. One thinks things thropugh while the other makes outrageous statements to keep listeners coming to and listening to the show. PS: Craig Carton is a Former employee at WGR.
Thropugh+ through
throupugh = through
Johnson isn’t performing his job to the best of his ability. Hell yeah they should call him out for it. He’s at best a 2nd receiver on most teams in this league, and we’re paying him to be a 1st. Act like it. If the coaches give you workouts they know will make you better, and you don’t do it, you’re under-performing. Not that tough to understand.
And @bigfranky75 @RobertPatrickMoscato have you ever listened to the callers on their show? Half of them can’t articulate anything resembling a good point. If I were Schopp, I’d be ready to hang myself by the 2nd hour daily. Not to mention the degenerates they have to deal with on the post game shows.
@bitterbillsfan I know the type of callers that call into any sportstalk show. That’s why I dont waste my time listening to it. Mike Schopp is probably a great guy, but he always seems to be overreaching when talking to the callers. I stand by what I said about him.
Not to mention, Johnson’s questioning what he could do if he actually put the effort in IS AN ADMISSION that he knows it was wrong.
My two cents on this SJ “controversy”
What SJ was saying in that interview is that he doesn’t lift weights. HOF RB Thurman Thomas admitted that he didn’t either during his playing days so I hardly see what the big deal is about. A local blow-hard decides to major in a minor thing then he gets all defensive when challenged. For anyone who says “if you listen to the callers who call in you’ll know why Schopp acts the way he does.” Well my response is there is a screener on the back end that ALLOWS these call to get through so who should Mike get angry at??
SJ comes across throughout his career as a goofy, immature person so his antics on Rome shouldn’t surprise anyone. He already blamed God for a dropped ball against Pittsburgh and his visual art against the Bengals and New England already show his priorities and immaturity. He reminds me of the co-worker who always like to be the jokester but usually at the expense of getting ahead in their career.