Watchu Talkin' 'Bout Byron Leftwich?

I'm sure by now most of you have read the comments by former Jacksonville Jaguar, Atlanta Falcon, and Tampa Bay Buccaneer Byron Leftwich made to CBS's Mike Freeman during his visit to Pittsburgh Steelers camp.

If you haven't and don't feel like getting upset by old wounds that shouldn't matter, don't click the jump.

If you like to talk about things like me, click the jump.

"I've been in this league a long time now," the eighth-year player says. "This is the first place where you feel like family. This is where I want to spend the rest of my career. That's what I mean by football paradise. This is football paradise. There is no B.S. here like other places. People tell you the truth here. They don't lie to you. I don't ever want to leave."

And by "other places" Leftwich means the team that drafted him, the Jacksonville Jaguars, who released him in 2006.

As far as the contents within Byron Leftwich's comments is not really an issue I care to re-hash, as I'm sure most of you don't. It doesn't matter who lied, who didn't, what really happened, or what we all think happened. That's not the issue here.

The issue here is messing with what most thought was water under the bridge. The only person Byron Leftwich is affecting with the words he said is himself. He's pouring salt on his own wound. Most people in Jacksonville have moved on way past Byron and the 2007 pre-season situation. The only reason it even crops up now is the slim possibility of history repeating itself, which is rather unlikely.

There was no real reason for Leftwich to say what he said, even if the scab was picked at by Mike Freeman. It was rather surprising it was even brought up, given in the past Byron Leftwich generally took the high road and never said anything directly about it, even when on local talk radio last season before a pre-season game between the Bucs and Jaguars, in Jacksonville. Freeman insists on Twitter he didn't need to do much prodding.

I know Leftwich is still hurt by the situation, as it was handled rather poorly by the organization. Leftwich isn't the first ex-Jaguar to take some shots after leaving, however. Fred Taylor, Deon Grant, Marcus Stroud, and Kyle Brady all took some veiled pot shots after leaving. Mike Peterson was even barred from the practice facility for some of the practices between the Falcons and the Jaguars to avoid controversy.

I'm sure Leftwich will get crushed locally in the next couple days for what he said, right or wrong as it may be. He shouldn't have said it in the first place, some wounds should stay closed. I don't see any reason for him to have even brought it up, unless it's just to kick someone while they're down.

Or as someone put it on Twitter, "It's like the ex popping off on how great life is, how much better the new relationship is."