When it comes to division rivalries in the NFL, the AFC West feud between the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers is hardly one of the most fierce.
Davante Adams is doing his best to change that.
Adams’ issue isn’t with the Chargers, per se, but rather with their social media team.
Appearing on FanDuel TV’s Up And Adams on Tuesday, the three-time All-Pro wide receiver took issue with the Chargers’ social media schedule release, in which the team likened each of its opponents to a particular Pop-Tart, with the Raiders — and Adams — being represented by a garbage-flavored pastry.
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) May 15, 2024
“There was little a trend a little bit ago where a few of the social media pages were posting some funny stuff of when the schedule was released,” the 31-year-old Adams told Adams. “They posted me and then like a trash can or something like that, the Chargers did. I thought about responding on social media to it and being funny there, but I figured it’d be better to just beat their head in in real life.”
The Fresno State product proceeded to note that he caught 10 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown against the Chargers in his Raiders debut in 2022, which he followed by catching eight passes for 177 yards and two touchdowns in a Week 13 win over Los Angeles. Last season, Adams was slightly less productive against the Chargers, tallying eight receptions for 75 yards and eight catches for 101 yards and a touchdown in his two performances against them — the latter of which was a 63-21 Raiders victory on Thursday Night Football.
“I just kind of wanted to remind them what they’ve been going through as it pertains to playing against me,” said Adams. “Hopefully the people that made that post — because it’s not the players’ fault. They didn’t have anything to do with the post. This is directed strictly toward the Chargers’ social media page: please keep my name out your mouth.”
#Raiders WR Davante Adams to the @Chargers…
“Keep my name out your mouth.” 👀🌶️@tae15adams in his last four games vs. LAC:
494 REC YARDS, 4 TD 😤 @heykayadams we can’t WAIT for Week 1 🍿 pic.twitter.com/MdItEcpOYK— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) July 9, 2024
On the one hand, Adams has a point; if you’re going to troll a player on social media, it probably shouldn’t be one who’s amassed 34 receptions for 494 yards and four touchdowns in his last four games against you. Troll Aidan O’Connell. Troll Mark Davis. Don’t troll the future Hall of Fame wide receiver who’s been living in your secondary for the last two seasons.
Conversely, it’s just social media, and the Chargers were seemingly referring to the entire Raiders organization as “garbage” (which may or may not be a fair accusation). Throughout their schedule release thread, the Chargers poked fun at each of their upcoming opponents and typically used the team’s most famous player as a representative.
Believe it or not, I’m actually going to side with Adams here — not because I think he’s right to be offended, but because I didn’t find the Chargers’ post all that funny. Garbage-flavored Pop-Tarts? What am I missing here? This was the equivalent of asking the Raiders if they got their famous silver and black uniforms at the toilet store.
Always one to try hard, the Chargers social media team had to get in the last word with a thinly veiled response to Adams’ comments on Tuesday.
For those keeping track at home, the two AFC West rivals will face each other in Week 1 of the 2024 NFL season on Sept. 8.
