Trash talk is overrated

In my opinion, bulletin-board material in the CFL is extremely overrated - the media really makes it bigger than it is.

If a team needs to use this to motivate themselves to perform better, then you really need to question what type of team they are.

As professional athletes, you expect to perform to the best of your abilities in every game regardless if there was any trash talk leading up to the match.

As a player, we were always told by our coaches not to say anything negative about our opponents.

I never really participated in trash talking before games. Some of my teammates did it occasionally, but it never really bothered me.

The only time I got upset about trash talking was when our receivers or running backs would talk smack to the other team's D-linemen.

I would tell our guys to shut up because it wasn't them blocking those guys, it was our O-line.

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what was said before the game. All that matters is what happens between the lines when the whistle blows.

Bryan Chiu is a seven-time CFL all-star and will file weekly for sportsnet.ca.