Jared Verse and Braden Fiske were fortunate enough to remain teammates after the Los Angeles Rams drafted them both in the first two rounds, taking them from Florida State to Southern California. Former Seminoles running back Trey Benson, on the other hand, went from being Verse’s teammate to becoming a bitter rival in the NFC West.
The Cardinals drafted Benson in the third round, which means he’ll get to play Verse (and Fiske) twice a year. They’re only a week into being NFL players and the trash talk has already begun.
Benson was on a radio show in Arizona and Verse just happened to be in the building with him. At one point in the interview, Verse grabbed the phone and took a few shots at his teammate-turned-rival.
“I’m taking the paint off his helmet,” Verse said. “I’m taking the paint off his helmet. I couldn’t get him in practice. He’s going to get this in games.”
Benson came back with, “He’s got to catch me first. That’s all I gotta say. He ran a sub-4.6. He ain’t catching me.”
Verse: “When the pads are on, everybody moves different. When the pads are on, we all move different.”
Verse, who’s an athletic, powerful and fast human being, vows to lay the wood on his former teammate when they square off next season.
“When I hit this man, he’s going to need a new helmet, he’s going to need new shoulder pads, a new ribcage. I’m going to break him,” he said, laughing.
It’s all in good fun, of course, but it’ll absolutely be a joy to watch these two competitors go at it the first time the Rams and Cardinals meet next season.