Many of us have surely made poor choices in pantswear during our lives. Maybe those jeans were too baggy. Those khakis were pleated. Perhaps you’re still planting the flag for cargo shorts during the summer.

But don’t make fun of a man’s pants. Or if you must joke, sling your zinger and move on. Don’t keep harping or tensions could develop.

Bad feelings definitely rose during NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football pregame show when Michael Irvin was mocking Steve Smith’s plaid pants. They were a bold choice, to be sure, perhaps even more so considering Smith was sitting on a chair with no desk in front of him. So the pants were there for all to see.

Irvin apparently couldn’t let that go and poked fun at his colleague. Maybe he took things a bit too far, prompting him to give a good-natured apology (nudged by his wife) on the air. Smith wasn’t interested, however, and appeared to be quite upset.

“When I come to L.A.,” said Smith, “I’m gonna whoop your ass.” And he pointed at the camera for emphasis. Uh-oh.

There was a notable lack of smile on Smith’s face when he threatened to whup Irvin’s ass! He wasn’t laughing when he turned to Amber Theoharis and Marshall Faulk, seemingly to confirm that he was indeed serious. Theoharis tried to defuse the situation by joking that Smith’s wife would have a problem with Irvin too, and Faulk was laughing hard. But maybe neither realized just how serious Smith appeared to be, facing the camera. When Steve Smith next goes to Los Angeles, he’s going after Michael Irvin.

“I’mma just whoop your ass when I see you, Mike,” Smith added. “Ain’t got no time for this.” Irvin was cracking up, feeling safe in the distance between Baltimore and Los Angeles. But NFL Network might want to make sure other people are in the room when Smith gets to L.A. and Irvin is in the studio.

Here’s another look at Smith’s pants, courtesy of an NFL Network pregame segment. Presumably, no one dared to make fun of that plaid.

[The Big Lead]

About Ian Casselberry

Ian is a writer, editor, and podcaster. You can find his work at Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He's written for Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation.