In the spirit of Halloween, and if all bad things truly happen in threes, you better watch out if your name starts with Ty. It hasn't exactly been the greatest few days for the namesake.
Nobody should ever wish anything bad upon anyone else. The karma in return would be way too much, too deep, and that's just an awful thing to do. This is merely about pointing out facts that a couple of Ty's haven't had good weeks.
First, early Sunday morning, the Cleveland Cavaliers fired head coach Tyronn Lue following an 0-6 start. Then, later the same day, Green Bay Packers return specialist Ty Montgomery fumbled a crucial kickoff late that left Aaron Rodgers and the offense off the field with a chance to beat the undefeated Los Angeles Rams.
Look, firing Lue was ridiculous. After guiding the Cavs to three-straight NBA Finals and losing superstar LeBron James this offseason, he arguably had the toughest job in the league this season. Nobody thought this team would be good and an injury to Kevin Love certainly isn't his fault, either. It's just a bad situation all around.
In the case of Montgomery, there were a lot of rumors swirling about his character following the loss in Los Angeles. Should he have taken a knee in the end zone for a touchback? Was he instructed to take a knee and returned it anyway? Apparently one anonymous player thought that was the case, and it caused quite the media frenzy.
"There's a lot of stuff that's not true that's causing me to have to deal with false accusations about my character, perceptions about my character," Montgomery said. "I've never been one to throw teammates under the bus. You guys know if you guys ever ask me questions about teammates, I always deflect it. I don't like it. So it's very disappointing especially as a guy who's jeopardized the length of his career, the amount of money he can make in his career, in the middle of a season being asked to do multiple things all the time. That's all I'm going to say about that."
Both of these things are far from fun. Lue will find a new job and Montgomery will return another kick at some point. But here are some other Ty's in sports that should watch their backs for playing time or something completely random.
Tyrod Taylor (Cleveland Browns)
Sorry, man. This is truly by default. Not only does Baker Mayfield hold the starting quarterback spot you held at the beginning of the season, but both head coach Hue Jackson and Todd Haley have also been fired this week. It's hard to understand what's going on. Perhaps it's time to get that real estate agent on the phone because a bright future with the Cleveland Browns seems to be the ultimate oxymoron.
Tyler Johnson (Miami Heat)
The 6-foot-4 shooting guard did put up 11 points, four rebounds, and four assists off the bench Monday night, but there are some rumblings that Johnson might lose his spot in the Heat rotation. With the emergence of shooting guard Rodney McGruder, it's more than possible. So watch your back, Tyler, but even if this happens, you can still chill on your $19.2 million salary this season.
Tyrann Mathieu (Houston Texans)
Oh, the Honey Badger. What a nice five-game win streak you have helped bring the Houston Texans. Having 46 tackles, two sacks, and two interceptions on the season has been real nice, too. There should be no problem against the Denver Broncos this weekend, but for the sake of this, let's just hope the right cleats show up so you can make some more plays on Sunday.
