St. Louis Rams defensive end William Hayes has put together a great season and, this week, he became the centerpiece of an ESPN feature detailing his impressive campaign and friendship with linemate Chris Long. The two ends get along great and complement each other on-and-off the field, but there’s one thing Hayes and Long absolutely do not agree on: dinosaurs.
One of the more interesting bits of the feature points out the fact that Hayes is somewhat of a dinosaur truther. His belief that dinosaurs never existed really seems to really rile up Long, who is apparently a big fan of the dinos.
“He thinks archaeologists place bones underground like a parent would place Easter eggs,” Long said earlier this season, laughing. “They just planted them. It’s some large conspiracy. He does not believe that dinosaurs ever existed and he thinks that mermaids are real. I love dinosaurs, so we have a big point of contention.”
That’s somewhat of a hot take, but I guess it’s important to let Hayes explain himself.
“No, I don’t believe dinosaurs existed,” Hayes said last month. “Not even a little bit. With these bones, it’s crazy because man has never seen a dinosaur, we can agree on that, right? But we know exactly how to put these bones together? I believe there is more of a chance you will find a mermaid than you will a dinosaur because we find different species in the water all the time.
“I don’t understand how [Long] just believes in dinosaurs. That’s just crazy to me. We know they died. We know what a T-Rex eats? That don’t sound crazy to you? We have never seen a dinosaur before but we know exactly where every single rib [was] and which rib goes where. That’s crazy to me.”
I mean, I guess he makes some valid points. I, personally, have never seen a dinosaur. I find it hard to believe that archaeologists would just concoct the entire idea of dinosaurs, whip up some monstrous bones, plant them in the ground, and then dig them up and assemble them just to pull a fast one on us, but I guess stranger things have happened? Maybe?
Either way, even if dinosaurs really are totally made up, I think I’d be okay with it — mainly because they provided us with Jurassic Park movies. Plus, dinosaurs are way cooler in theory than they are in practice, anyways. Imagine trying to live your life in peace if dinosaurs still roamed the Earth? I would go outside even less than I already do right now, and that’s saying something.
