jalen ramsey-jacksonville jaguars-super bowl Jan 7, 2018; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey (20) reacts after a play during the second quarter against the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Wild Card playoff football game at EverBank Field. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Jalen Ramsey is an incredible cornerback, but he might be an even better talker. Stick a microphone in that guy’s face and he is magical.

On Sunday night, hours after beating the Steelers and carping about it proudly, Ramsey appeared at a team rally back in Jacksonville and made a bold proclamation.

“Make sure you all bring that same energy out next week and the week after,” Ramsey told the crowd. “We are going to the Super Bowl and we are going to win that bitch. We are going to the win that bitch.”

According to ESPN, Ramsey didn’t stop there.

“Excuse my language, but we don’t give a f—,” Ramsey said. “We really don’t care. We knew what we were going to do. We don’t really be worried about all that. Y’all bring that to us. That’s honestly the first time that we hear about it. During the week, when y’all brought the Mike Mitchell thing to me, that was the first time I heard about it. We don’t care about none of that.

“Talking is cool. You can do all the talking you want on Twitter, to the media, all of that, but when you get on the field, you’re going to have produce. You’re going to have to show us what you’re really about. We’re confident because we know the work we put in. We know the blessings the Lord has given us. We’re going to go out here confident. We’re going to go out there swagged up.”

Later, the cornerback again apologized for his language, but you get the sense he’d gladly do it again.

Ramsey joins a long list of Super Bowl guaranteers. Some of those confident prognosticators (Plaxico Burress, Shannon Sharpe and of course Joe Namath) were redeemed in the end, while others (Alshon Jeffery, Rex Ryan) were not. Obviously a Super Bowl guarantee can be a risky proposition, especially when you’re days away from facing the Patriots in Foxborough.

And yes, maybe there’s some light hypocrisy in Ramsey and the Jaguars criticizing the Steelers for looking past them… only to look right past the Patriots to the Super Bowl. Then again, that dynamic works a little differently when you’re an underdog. Even if Ramsey is sure Jacksonville will beat New England, no one else is giving the Jags a shot, so his confidence feels less like arrogance and more like swagger.

Regardless of whether it’s a good idea to guarantee a Super Bowl victory, sports are supposed to be fun, and Ramsey’s chirping is incredibly fun. Between his back-and-forth with the media, his occasional social media instigation, his on-field trash talk and his appearance at the rally Sunday, he might be this generation’s Steve Smith, an incredible talker who should have a microphone in front of him at all time.

About Alex Putterman

Alex is a writer and editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. He has written for The Atlantic, VICE Sports, MLB.com, SI.com and more. He is a proud alum of Northwestern University and The Daily Northwestern. You can find him on Twitter @AlexPutterman.