Ja’Marr Chase has a brutal realization about the NFL ahead of Week 1
By Josh Hill
Ja’Marr Chase had exactly the opposite of what Bengals fans want to hear ahead of his Week 1 debut.
The NFL is back.
Let the wave of Week 1 excitement wash over you. Appreciate the sensation of hope that all fan bases feel, believing this is the year they will watch a Super Bowl journey through to completion. Watch…the ball screaming toward your head??
Ja’Marr Chase, the Cincinnati Bengals first-round pick from this year, is experiencing all of those things for the first time — especially that last one.
The rookie wide receiver is set to make his NFL debut on Sunday when the Bengals take on the Vikings but the learning process has already begun. His days at LSU made him into star and his transition to the NFL isn’t really that big of a leap considering his college quarterback, Joe Burrow, is now his pro quarterback.
But one thing is different: the ball.
Chase spoke about how it’s harder to see an NFL football than it is the one regulated at the collegiate level.
Essentially, Chase is admitting on main that he can’t see the ball.
"“The ball is different because it is bigger,” Chase said, via Bengals.com. “It doesn’t have the white stripes on the side so you can’t see the ball coming from the tip point so you actually have to look for the strings on the ball at the top, which is hard to see because whole ball is brown and you have the six strings that are white. But for the most part, just have to get used to it and find out what I am comfortable with catching.”"
At face value, that’s both troubling but mostly hilarious.
Chase isn’t going to fall off a cliff because he somehow can’t locate the ball anymore. But it could indicate that expectations should be tempered when it comes to how quickly he’ll bolt out of the gate as part of the next generation of great receivers.