Steve Smith's victory lap continued unabated on Wednesday.
Inside the NFL captured Smith telling former Panthers teammates to go back to Carolina and "make sure you mow my lawn" while you're there.
Hours after Showtime ran that video, Smith unloaded on the Panthers organization in a combustible interview with WFNZ's Frank Garcia and Mark Yarbro in Charlotte.
When general manager Dave Gettleman told Around The NFL in February that he was evaluating Smith's roster spot, the wide receiver began hearing comments that he was a "distraction," a bad influence in the locker room and declining as a player.
When he finally sat down with Gettleman, Smith said the general manager relayed the message that he was a "shadow" of his former self, "can't run and jump" like he once did and was "jealous of Cam (Newton)."
Gettleman subsequently shopped his No. 1 receiver around the league, insisting "it's not about a pay cut." Smith insists he did not try to force a trade and could not stomach forfeiting his $5 million in guarantees in a potential salary slash.
When the franchise icon was unceremoniouslyjettisoned in March, Smith said he learned his fate via radio.
"He doesn't even have the cojones to tell it to my face," Smith continued. "Everybody else says that it wasn't personal, but if the first thing comes out of your mouth is it wasn't personal, well guess what, it was personal."
What bothered Smith most was being portrayed as a distraction and a bad teammate.
"But I didn't beat my wife," Smith said. "Yeah I hit some teammates six or seven years ago but I never beat my wife. I didn't get arrested for DUIs. I didn't fall off no motorcycles."
Although Smith's venom was mostly directed in Gettleman's direction, he saved a few jabs for coach Ron Rivera as well.
"I just think I was stabbed in the back," Smith said of Rivera. "... He didn't look at me man-to-man and said this was going down. He said he's a player's coach but he never came in and said, 'Hey Smitty, this is going on. Wanted to give you a heads up.' He hid in his office."
To the surprise of no one following Smith's career over the past decade, he turned the fire from his Panthers rejection inward, converting it to high-octane fuel powering a dominant performance that left blood and guts all over the field in Baltimore.
"I don't have anything to say to Dave Gettleman," Smith said in summation. "He told me what he thought of me, and my play told him what I thought of him."
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