I get why Germaine Pratt got mad, but c’mon man.
The Cincinnati Bengals missed their chance to go to the Super Bowl (again) after a 23-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game due to a late-game penalty. In the aftermath, a video of Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt’s reaction to everything ended up going viral, and he has now expressed regret for how he handled things.
While headed back to Arrowhead Stadium’s visiting locker room, a Spectrum News Ohio camera spotted Pratt lashing out and yelling, “Why would you touch the f**king quarterback?” This was a reference to defensive end Joseph Ossai’s unnecessary roughness penalty that led to the Chiefs winning on a near last-second field goal, punching them into the big game.
Bengals LB Germaine Pratt after Bengals loss 😳
(via @KatieKapustaTV)pic.twitter.com/nWj3epnHTd
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) January 30, 2023
Pratt spoke to reporters Jan. 30 and said that he was “wrong” for his response.
“I was in the moment,” said Pratt. “I was wrong. I would say I was wrong. As a man, you can look yourself in the mirror and say, ‘I was wrong.’ I wasn’t a great teammate in that moment. That doesn’t define me as a man.”
Germaine Pratt says he felt badly for comments criticizing Joseph Ossai. Says he wants to play for a Super Bowl winner and Bengals give him that shot. pic.twitter.com/1JiSPCCEHr
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) January 30, 2023
It should also be noted that Pratt missed this horrendous tackle after getting steamrolled during the game:
Also Germaine Pratt https://t.co/ltLROaXz7S pic.twitter.com/8iXuFMImWS
— DEPRESSED LONGHORN FAN (8-5) (@sadlonghornfan) January 30, 2023
Like I said, I understand why Germaine Pratt got mad, but three things:
1. How on earth are you gonna talk shit when you literally got rolled over to give the Chiefs a first down?
2. Why couldn’t this have been vented out behind closed doors? Now you just look like a horrible teammate.
3. That apology was complete and utter trash, I felt nothing from that.
Yeah, someone could make the argument of, “he didn’t cost them the game,” but Pratt wasn’t handling all of his business either, which gave Kansas City further leverage to win, sooo … he kinda did, he certainly played a part in it. (RELATED: REPORT: Green Bay Packers Ready To Move On, Looking To Trade Aaron Rodgers)
I’m sorry, but from where I’m sitting, Pratt is a shit teammate. He should be more like BJ Hill.
This was the scene at Joseph Ossai’s locker with BJ Hill stepping in to provide support https://t.co/8vn1OOlhOQ pic.twitter.com/nbUnoCkzfp
— Michael Niziolek (@michaelniziolek) January 30, 2023
Now that’s some real teammate shit.