Steve Smith Sr. Bodies Blogger on Twitter, Is in Midseason Trash-Talking Form

Historically, provoking Steve Smith Sr. has proved to be a low-percentage endeavor.

On the most cordial occasions, offenders limp off in search of an ice bag. More often, however, they end up with yard work or ranking their pain on a scale from one to 10 to a concerned healthcare worker.

With this in mind, we turn to a confrontation that broke out over Twitter on Tuesday between Smith and SB Nation's Cleveland Browns blog, Dawgs By Nature.

It started over an old, innocuous Steve Smith highlight video tweeted out by the Houston Chronicle's Stephanie Stradley on Tuesday morning.

Like most of us, Stradley likes a good small-human football highlight from time to time and just wanted to share.

Ron Elkman/Sports Imagery/Getty Images

That's a nice little highlight! Smith breaks some tackles and incinerates an entire people on his way to the end zone. Nothing harmful there, right?

Wrong.

In Dawgs' opinion, there is a distinct hierarchy in the taxonomy of NFL toughness, and the Cleveland blog came in with a barn-fire #take on Smith's ass and its lack of badness.

Presumably in the midst of his biannual mention check, Smith saw the remark and responded, offering for Dawgs to research the veracity of his claims when the Baltimore Ravens come to Ohio this fall.

And then a defense retort.

Smith, a man who's made people disappear from the league entirely, responded with his belief that Dawgs has been spending too many hours raiding with Leeroy and Co. (warning: NSFW language).

Dawgs then took the high road. He'll insult you on Twitter, but he's not a child, for Pete's sake.

This was unironically followed by a sexually transmitted disease joke.

At last, Smith signed off from the digital slap fight with a pic of his kids, one sporting a familiar grin and the other appearing surprised people still try his dad.

And that was how Smith began limbering up his trash-talking muscles for the 2015 season.

After all, it's supposedly his last go-round, and at the stringy age of 36, Smith can't just come into games cold and dance on people's smoking remains like he once did.

Even so, you should probably tack a course around his mentions. It's the kind of place where people wander in and disappear forever.

Dan is on Twitter. Let's keep this a clean Internet fight with no hits to the groin or follower number.