Chase Claypool escalates war of words with 'classless' Browns

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Chase Claypool has been in the headlines frequently since his team’s playoff loss to the Cleveland Browns, mostly because he can’t stop talking about it.

Claypool has been critical of the Browns since they beat Pittsburgh 48-37 in the AFC wild-card game, and he’s not backing down on that now. Responding to criticism from Browns players, Claypool told DAZN Canada on Wednesday that his remarks were motivated by what he saw as Cleveland players being disrespectful to teammate JuJu Smith-Schuster during and after Sunday’s game. Claypool said, via Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com:

“If the Browns had won with more class, then I wouldn’t have been so salty about it, but them mocking JuJu during the game and after the game just didn’t sit right with me. They were just super classless, you know against JuJu, towards JuJu what they were saying on the field towards the end of the game, so I’m not going to have respect for a team that doesn’t have respect for us.

“They can enjoy the win and another week of football, but they’ll be on the couch right next to me, so it’s all good.”

Whether it justifies anything or not, it’s important to note that there was definitely a reason the Browns were singling out Smith-Schuster. Their players would likely respond that they were only acting the way they did because Smith-Schuster disrespected them first.

The Browns have not let Claypool have the last word, but the more the Steelers receiver talks, the more it sounds like sour grapes. The Browns would be best-served by staying focused on Kansas City at this point.