Since every NFL story involving a boat will inevitably lead to a comment about Fred Smoot, I figured I should ask the former Redskins cornerback (who once famously got into a misadventure on a Minnesota boat) to help break this one down, X’s and O’s style. Our exchange has been lightly edited.

Well, what did you think about the Giants and their boat story?

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Man, you know what? You’ve got to think about the facts of it: it was a bunch of guys on a boat. I’m with Eli [Manning]: they didn’t do this thing properly. They wasn’t dressed right, they had on Timbos, and it was like 12 guys. Let’s be honest about it: I didn’t see any DBs on this boat, so it couldn’t have been that fun. And the DBs didn’t play that well [against Green Bay]. It wasn’t just the wide receivers; the DBs didn’t cover anybody. So at the end of the day, their loss was a team effort. And I think everybody’s taking the boat thing a little bit too far. Think about it: These guys live in New York. There’s water everywhere in New York. What do people say if they’re on a boat in New York?

Probably they wouldn’t want to go on a boat in New York in January, though.

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Well if you’ve got the right sized yacht, you don’t need to come outside of it.

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I guess that’s true.

At the end of the day, I know why everybody’s getting on these guys. I know they’re talking about their first playoff appearance, and the optics look so bad. It’s not that it’s against the rules, but the optics are bad, because you could be focusing on something else, and y’all guys are in Miami. And not just in Miami, but Trey Songz and these guys are in the pictures, so it looks like the guys are not focused. And then playing a bad game? Like I said, it’s the optics, and it doesn’t look good as a leader on the team.

Should players not travel on their off days?

Well, who am I to tell you what to do? You know, there’s a lot of issues that can force you to travel. A lot of players’ home base is not where they play football. Some of these guys are married, and they have to fly home for family and wives and other different things. Like I said, the timing was bad. And any time you lose a game — and playoffs take it to another level — people are going to try to find something to blame. And after he missed that first catch, I was like, “I hope he don’t let that get in his head,” and I think it bothered him. He’s an emotional player. The one thing about emotional players, they go on roller coasters sometimes, and I think he played himself out of the game thinking too much.

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I think you’re right. I think you’re right. Do you think that whole story could have had any impact with how they played?

Well, not how they played. I think it focused on [Beckham]. He is the offense. Let’s be honest. He moves the needle on their offense, and think about it, the only time he’s had multiple-drop games have been the Josh Norman situation and yesterday, in the playoffs. That’s the only times. This is a sure-handed guy. So that tells you, the emotion he plays with, he’s going to have his emotional highs and his emotional lows. But those games correlate because he played the game inside of his head. That’s why he had the tantrum at the end of the game, in the locker room.

I don’t know if you’ve seen, but all the media’s going crazy with the boat stuff still. Do you think the media made too much of it, or is making too much of it?

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I always tell people this: I came and got drafted and I played in the NFC East. All gigantic markets. When you play in these markets, I promise you, they will dissect you. They will use anything. It’s about how much do you want to expose, because if you play in Green Bay or if you play in Tennessee, I’m sorry, the market is just not that big. Those guys are doing some of the same things, it’s just nobody cares.

That’s probably true. Why is it so much fun to be on a boat? I don’t like boats that much.

C’mon, you’re a land guy. But the thing about it, if you’re a water person, let me tell you what comes with water usually: It usually comes with warm weather, bright colors, of course beautiful women. (And I was so shocked, I didn’t see any women on that boat.) Usually it just comes with relaxation. Some guys like to fish; I’m an avid fisherman. Now I can’t say I was fishing on Lake Minnetonka, but I’m an avid fisherman. So at the end of the day, I’m attracted to the water. I’m from Mississippi, we have the Gulf Coast right there and the Mississippi River.

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People don’t get seasick? Like, I get a little bit queasy when I’m on a boat, you know? No?

C’mon. You’ve been here a long time. There’s a lot of water around the D.C. area. Maybe you should try a boat and see how relaxing it is.

I guess. Do you think the media made too much of your boat story?

Yeah, they totally made too much of it. And I think the reason is always location, location. Like I said, if Odell and them guys are in New York on the water, nobody cares. It’s just location. Our situation happened in the Midwest; it’s the only story to talk about. If we were in Miami, y’all would have never known about it, you know? If we’re in New York or if we’re in D.C., y’all would never hear about it. That’s everyday life there. But not in Minnesota, not on Lake Minnetonka. So at the end of the day, it became way more than it was. We had the pressure that came down with it from the media, and at the end of the day we got charged with disturbing the peace. It became what it was, and we couldn’t stop the mudslide. Believe me, we went in many stadiums and saw captain [signs]. People were literally bringing boat items into stadiums. So they really rode it for a long time.

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That’s my last question: do you think Odell Beckham has replaced you as the first person NFL fans will think of when they hear about a boat?

No, because his boat didn’t look as fun as ours. No, when they say boat and think real party, they’re gonna probably point at the Vikings. You know, you look at the mascot. The Vikings, they know how to maneuver a boat. I don’t see any Giants on boats. I don’t know, it’s the freshest story out. Like I said, the optics were bad on it. He’s young, made a bad decision. If he could do it over, I’m sure he wouldn’t do it.

If you could do it over, would you not do the boat?