EUGENE — In 2017, NFL writer and podcaster Denny Carter went viral for a tweet satirizing how different football position groups speak on social media. Playing on the sometimes intense personal drama and ever-present chips on the shoulders of wide receivers, he wrote: “The enemy speaks kindly and holds a knife.”
These guys aren’t known for taking criticism lightly, or for a pacifist mindset between the lines. They want the ball. They want snaps. They can seem permanently aggrieved by doubters, haters, the other guy. Some of the most fiery personalities on a football team can be wideouts.
The Oregon Ducks have players who fit some or all of those broad descriptors. Not all of them play receiver, to be sure, and some of Oregon’s best pass-catchers let their play do much more of the talking. But roaming around Oregon football media day on Monday, one could still hear the tweet come alive.
That starts with a steadfast belief that they …