Larry Brown Sports

Keenan Allen learned the hard way that it’s a bad idea to offend your fanbase by wearing the hat of a rival team.

Allen, a North Carolina native, played his college ball at Cal and was drafted in the third round by the San Diego Chargers last month. The wide receiver shared a video on Vine of himself eating at In-N-Out burger, but he was wearing an Oakland Raiders hat in the video. Predictably, that didn’t go over well with Chargers fans, who immediately got on his case.

Allen deleted the Vine video and apologized on Twitter:

I get it fans!!!! Won’t happen again!

— Keenan Allen (@KAAdeuce1) May 18, 2013

I apologize!

— Keenan Allen (@KAAdeuce1) May 18, 2013

Rookie move, Allen. Though, he can always claim he was just taking his lead from Tom Brady.

Photo via Dave Palet
H/T The Big Lead

Chad Johnson filed paperwork with a court to ask a judge to lower his child support payments for one of his children, TMZ reports.

Johnson’s payments to Andrea Pearson, one of the mothers of his children, reportedly are $5,420 per month. Johnson agreed to that amount in March 2012 when he said in filings he was making $66,000 per month. Johnson was not with an NFL team at the time, but he had plenty of endorsement deals, a TV show on VH1, and he was later brought to training camp by the Miami Dolphins.

Johnson’s NFL prospects ended after the Dolphins released him following his altercation with ex-wife Evelyn Lozada. He also lost endorsement deals and their TV show as a result of the arrest.

Naturally, Johnson says he can’t afford the support payments.

TMZ reported last November that Pearson accused Johnson of being late and missing payments. The two have a son together who was born in 2010.

Let this be a lesson to athletes everywhere who think that making millions entitles you to plant your seed anywhere you please. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up owing thousands per month in child support payments.

More and more disturbing news continues to come out about Titus Young.

The troubled former Detroit Lions wide receiver has been arrested three times in the past month, and his ex-girlfriend filed for a restraining order against him, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports.

According to the PE’s John Asbury, Young’s ex-girlfriend filed for the restraining order on May 8, the day after it was widely reported that Young was arrested twice in one day the previous weekend.

Young’s ex, with whom he shares an 8-month-old son, was granted a temporary restraining order that requires Young to stay 100 yards away from her. The PE says the ex-girlfriend wrote in her filing that she is “afraid of what he is capable of doing.”

“He also has been in a mental help facility more than once and still believes that he does not have a problem,” she reportedly stated in the filing.

The ex-girlfriend, who lives in Moreno Valley, Calif., accuses Young of repeatedly waiting outside her home and threatening and harassing her.

“He would say things like, ‘I understand why O.J. killed his wife.’ He says. ‘We’re always gonna be a family and I’m always going to be his,’ ” the restraining order states, per the Press-Enterprise. “He got mad and yelled at my neighbors and tried to fight multiple people that he doesn’t even know.”

Young’s ex was also worried about him taking their son. She says he took their son and was headed to San Diego. He is accused of stealing items from a gas station in Laguna Hills while holding their son before his DUI arrest later that night.

Young’s father and the ex-girlfriend say the football player has a brain disorder. Young remains in custody after pleading not guilty to eight charges earlier this week.

H/T Diamond Leung

Steve Smith remains as honest and outspoken as ever.

The longtime Carolina Panthers wide receiver was co-hosting The Drive on WFNZ 610-AM in Charlotte on Thursday when he bashed Mark Sanchez.

“He sucks,” Smith said simply.

“I wouldn’t let Mark Sanchez throw me a paper bag sandwich,” he joked. (audio here)

When asked about Smith’s remarks, Sanchez said, “I wish him and his team a healthy, successful season.”

Smith’s comments came up in the context of a debate about NFL quarterback rankings. CBS Sports’ Will Brinson listed the Jets quarterbacks (Sanchez and Geno Smith) 30th out of 32 in his rankings, below even Blaine Gabbert (something I would dispute). Smith must have agreed in some shape, because he doesn’t think very much of Sanchez.

We’ve long been down on Sanchez as a quarterback. I give credit to Sanchez for playing well in the playoffs his first two seasons which helped his team reach the AFC Championship Game twice, but the reality is the Jets made the postseason because they had a stellar defense, excellent offensive line, and great running game. When the line and running game weakened and they tried going to a pass-heavy attack the past few years, the results were poor.

Sanchez will be lucky to start another 16 games combined during the rest of his career.

Helmet smack to Pro Football Talk

Evan Mathis‘ photo of him taking a leak on an IRS building sign has gone viral in the 24 hours since he posted it to his Instagram account on Wednesday. The Philadelphia Eagles offensive guard explained the circumstances for the now infamous photo during an interview with SI Hot Clicks’ Jimmy Traina.

Mathis indicated to Traina that he didn’t actually pee on the sign, though he was afraid he’d lose street cred for that admission. He also explained what seems to be the real motivating factor behind the photo.

“I’m actually being audited right now,” Mathis told Traina. “I’ll do my 2012 taxes when that’s over. Sadly, I always pay in full.”

Ah, don’t we all. I’m guessing he’s going to end up on their audit list every year thanks to the photo.

Evan Mathis, like the rest of us, is not a huge fan of the IRS. The Philadelphia Eagles guard shared this photo on his Instagram account on Wednesday, and it looks like he’s either urinating (or pretending to urinate) on an IRS building sign. I’m guessing that’s not going to help his efforts to avoid or come out clean in an audit.

As for the big boot on his left foot, Mathis recently had ankle surgery.

Photo: Instagram/Evan Mathis
H/T Bleacher Report

Bernard Pollard was one of the key members of the Baltimore Ravens’ Super Bowl-winning defense last season. Despite his great season last year, the team released him in March. He signed with the Tennessee Titans, and it sounds like there are some hard feelings between him and some people associated with the team.

During an interview with Norris & Davis Show on 105.7 The Fan in Baltimore, Pollard said he was “stunned a little bit” over his release. He said he would not be joining the team in DC for its celebratory visit to the White House, explaining that he already had a family vacation scheduled. But he says he would not have made the trip anyway even if he didn’t have a conflict.

“I’m not gonna be there,” Pollard told the hosts, via Pro Football Talk. “I’m either going to have someone get my ring or have them ship it to me. I gotta sit this one out, man. I actually have a vacation with my family and then I’m coming back to get [my ring]. If I didn’t have a vacation, I wouldn’t come anyway.”

“If I didn’t have a vacation, I still wouldn’t want to go. I’m not sour,” said Pollard.

“It’s not my teammates. It’s not my teammates at all. I would celebrate with them any time, any day of the week I would celebrate with them. But at the end of the day, I know what happened, I know what took place. . . . I’m sorry, but I just don’t want to be in the room with certain people.”

Pollard was going to count for $3.5 million against the salary cap this season, which doesn’t seem like a ton for what he would do. He said he believes the story GM Ozzie Newsome told him regarding his release.

Pollard led the Ravens in tackles last season, but he isn’t great in pass coverage. The big reason that seems to account for his release is what appears to be a rocky relationship with coach John Harbaugh. The team reportedly had a near mutiny situation in October, and Pollard along with Ed Reed were said to have been the strongest opponents to Harbaugh. Reed signed with another team while Pollard was released. That likely explains his release and bitter comments.