In the world of sports, sometimes you are just not going to agree with everybody. Such is the case between ESPN’s Mina Kimes and former NFL quarterback and current analyst Ryan Leaf.
Cincinnati Bengals backup quarterback Jake Browning made an appearance last night against the Baltimore Ravens following Joe Burrow being knocked out of the game with a wrist injury. That situation led to an interaction between Kimes and Leaf that got a little heated, and it all began due to the way both of them viewed Browning and his standing in the NFL as a quarterback.
Mina Kimes and Ryan Leaf Butt Heads Over Jake Browning
On Thursday night, Kimes posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) about Bengals backup QB Browning, citing her experience watching him for four years at Washington as a reason for her beliefs.
“As a UW fan who watched Jake Browning for four years, I’ll say this … Dude can sure punt!” It was that tweet that spurred a reaction from Leaf that led to a bit of a back-and-forth between the two.
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Leaf did not agree with Kimes’ assessment of Browning and made it known with a response of his own.
“I guess @ESPN is just the place where you go to shit on people now as analysts. Good to know. WTAF.”
That response led to three additional tweets directed toward one another in which Kimes reminded Leaf that people are allowed to have their own opinions.
“Ryan, we’re allowed to think players aren’t NFL-caliber starters and say so. This is hardly a savage critique.”
From there, Leaf decided to compare Browning to Kimes’ current teammate and former NFL QB Dan Orlovsky as well as longtime NFL backup QB Chase Daniel. While both caught a stray in the post, Leaf stood strong in his defense of Browning, admitting that he may feel differently because he is close to Browning and considers him a friend.
“So he’s Dan Orlovsky or Chase Daniel. Ok, I’d disagree, I’m just not gonna call an NFL QB a punter after 30 mins of analysis before I’d succumb to the very hyperbolic ‘NFL caliber starter’ I’m clearly just too close to this I guess, and am empathetic to a peer & friend in Jake who I believe can be a very capable NFL starter just like Dan & Chase.”
Kimes ended the discourse by standing on her previous point but softened her stance and admitted that she would love to be wrong about her evaluation of the backup QB.
“Well let me be clear about one thing—I loved watching him at UW. Incredible career. My view on him as a prospect—which is what I was conveying there—doesn’t change that. And I’d love to be wrong.”
While these two are going to have to agree to disagree, the fact remains that the future of Browning is still unwritten, and while both can have opposite stances on the matter, neither can be proven right at this time.
Ultimately, whether we agree or not — can’t we all just get along?
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