Tucker Kraft's psychotic trash-talking will make Packers fans love him even more

Every year, sometime around this point in the season, fan favorites start emerging. They may not always be the best player on the team, or the most important, but there's just a certain je ne sais quoi that they bring to the team that can't be matched or replicated.

After Sunday's win over the Los Angeles Rams, the Green Bay Packers may well have their guy: Tucker Kraft.

Kraft, a second-year tight end who the Packers drafted in the third round, is starting to show up as a dominant pass-catcher in Matt LaFleur's offense. He set a career-high against the Rams with 88 yards and two touchdowns and is already well on his way to setting career-highs across the board. As the Packers deal with some injuries to key offensive players, Kraft's emergence has come at just the right time.

He's also, apparently, extremely metal. Maybe even too metal? Kraft went on AJ Dillon's podcast recently to talk about the wide variety of things you've come to expect anytime one football player goes on another football player's podcast. The topic of trash talking came up, and when asked about his approach to the art, Kraft gave one of the most unhinged answers you're going to ever hear.

Tucker Kraft's trash talking proves he's got some things he needs to unpack

"If someone's, like, trying to talk at me, I just start screaming," he said. "I'm telling people that I'm going to burn their childhood homes down."

Uhh, what? Can you imagine being a defensive lineman, innocently blocking on 2nd-and-6, only to have some random tight end you've never met before come up to you, screaming, and tell you that he's going to burn down your childhood home? I actually kinda get it from Kraft's angle: it's so bizarre, so out of nowhere, that I think I'd get lost in the message and forget my assignment for a moment.

How do you even react when someone tells you their plan to burn down your house? It's just so specific and unique that you have to respect it.

This is a textbook example of how to keep a mental edge on your opponent. Just get super, super weird about it. Everyone's heard the same four insults about how you're not Him, but he is Him. Get avant-garde, keep the people wondering. The Packers got a good one.

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