One of reporters' favorite games to play to pass the time while watching training camp practice is the "who would you least like to fight?" game.
This has been debated for years and years about Ravens players. This season, I decided to ask the same question to the players. And their answers are fantastic.
First up was quarterback Joe Flacco. I did give him a bit of leading question of whether Iowa-pig-farming Pro Bowl guard Marshal Yanda would be the guy on the team he'd least like to fight.
"Obviously, he would be a pretty good choice for that," Flacco said with a smile. "I'm pretty sure most of the guys on the team, for me, would be a … I could probably pick 90 percent of the guys I wouldn't want to fight in an alley. So, I don't know."
Then I followed up with Yanda himself. Who would he not want to meet in a dark alley?
"I don't know. Probably Steve Smith," he said. "You would think you would probably hit that guy 100 times, [and he would] just keep on coming."
I would make the same case for not fighting Yanda and told him so.
"Yeah, probably," Yanda said. "It'd be a good fight, I'll tell you that."
Obviously, I had to run this by Smith. Who would he not want to tangle with?
"I'd pick any one of them," Smith said with a grin.
"Marshal reminds me of [former Panthers tackle] Jordan Gross, who I went to school with and played with for a long time. [Yanda's] a lot nastier. Jordan smiles a lot. Yanda doesn't smile as much. I would say Yanda. But I'd still take him."
For what it's worth, below is my current top 10, in order. (Note to the players: please do not actually beat me up if you're not listed or are lower than you think you should be.)
1) Marshal Yanda
2) Steve Smith Sr.
3) Terrell Suggs
4) Courtney Upshaw
5) Kelechi Osemele
6) Elvis Dumervil
7) Brandon Williams
8) Will Hill
9) Crockett Gillmore
10) Timmy Jernigan
