During Super Bowl LVI, Cincinnati Bengals kicker Evan McPherson went viral for staying on the sidelines during the halftime show to see the performance instead of going to the locker room with the team.
It was a funny moment — but it’s apparently still not one going over too well within the locker room.
Take special teams coordinator and assistant head coach Darrin Simmons, who wasn’t too happy the topic was brought up at the scouting combine.
“That’s a sore subject,” Simmons said, according to Jay Morrison of The Athletic. “That’s a real sore subject.”
Interestingly, Morrison says veteran long-snapper Clark Harris was out there during halftime doing the same thing, although he somehow managed to avoid getting his mug on camera during the performance.
At the end of the day, special-teamers being out there during halftime and getting practice reps in right away before another half starts isn’t the biggest deal in the world.
But McPherson’s status as not only a breakout rookie, but near-weekly viral sensation, made him an easy target for the cameras. The perception of his actions certainly clashes with the perception of the all-in, serious perception of the locker room otherwise, so it’s not hard to see why Simmons might be irritated with the whole thing.
As a whole? This will pass — and it sure doesn’t hurt that McPherson was a record-breaking rookie and a huge part of the reason the Bengals made it to the Super Bowl.
